


Love finds the way Home

by SpencnerTibbsLuvr (KliqzAngel)



Series: Shadows, Death, Love and Home [2]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), NCIS
Genre: Angst, Character Bashing, Child Coming Online and Finding Mate, Don't need to be familiar w Background Fandoms, M/M, Sentinel & Guide Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-14 23:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14779403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KliqzAngel/pseuds/SpencnerTibbsLuvr
Summary: Dr. Spencer Reid suffered through the death of his beloved older brother Alec Trevelyan as a child. At the time he was too young to understand the difference between what he was told and what he was feeling. Many years later, the reported death of his co-worker Emily Prentiss, would put his older brother’s death in a whole new light. Because, he was old enough now to understand that Emily wasn’t really dead, just in hiding from her enemies. So, what did that mean for his brother who felt exactly the same way? Sequel to In the Shadows of Death.





	1. Abandonment – Both Real and Perceived

**Author's Note:**

  * For [g_love99](https://archiveofourown.org/users/g_love99/gifts).



> Spencer comes online at 10 and immediately finds his Sentinel who is 20. However, there is **NO Sexual Bonding prior to Spencer's 18th birthday**. In fact, they only see each other twice prior to him becoming a legal adult. I tried very hard to make sure this relationship was not written in a way that would suggest anything creepy or adult before Spencer was old enough. I don't write child/adult romantic relationships and that is not what this story is about. Knowledge of minor fandoms Supernatural and James Bond or their characters used in this fic is not needed.

Banner by G

 

**This story was writen for the 2018 Criminal Minds Big Bang. Big thanks go out to DarkJediQueen and Rivermoon1970 for all of their hard work. HUGE thanks go out to Rivermoon1970 for all the hand holding and cheerleading she did while I was writing this beast. My artist was G (G_love99 on AO3) who made me some beautiful banners! Please check out her art posting on AO3 [HERE](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14674914/chapters/33904083).

 

  
When Guide Dr. Spencer Reid was a small child, his favorite person in the world was his older brother Alec. The child of a brief relationship his mother had in college abroad before she met William Reid, Alec was given to the father after birth, and Diana was sent back to the United States. Despite that, Alec was allowed to keep in contact with his mother, especially after his father and stepmother were both killed. Being a Dormant Guide with a documented mental illness, the S&G Center in England had not been willing to give custody of a minor child, whom they guessed would be a rare Swing SentinelGuide, over to someone with shaky mental capabilities, even without the complications of her Dormant Guide state. As a child though, even as smart as he was, it didn’t really occur to Spencer that Alec not living with them was anything but ordinary.  
  
As Spencer saw it, the facts were as follows. Alec had always been his brother. Alec had always loved him and made sure that Spencer knew he loved him. Alec had always lived far away limiting contact to mostly letters in whatever language Spencer was learning at the time and the occasional phone call. Despite the 12-year age difference, there hadn’t been a time when the young genius could remember not adoring his big brother and feeling secure that despite the rest of the chaos in his life Alec would always be there for him.  
  
And then, he wasn’t.  
  
Spencer found out who his Sentinel and Soul Match would be just after Spencer’s father left when he was 10. The trauma and angst of the event and the knowledge that he would be responsible for his mother’s care at such a young age caused him to come online. He could vaguely remember being huddled up in a ball in his bedroom crying his heart out and screaming that he needed his “Forever”. That was always what his mother had called the person who would end up being his Sentinel and Mate. He couldn’t remember much else about the event but remembered the aftermath distinctly.  
  
There wasn’t another record in written Sentinel & Guide history of such a large age gap in a Soul Match where one of the Mates came online prior to puberty. Spencer hoped sincerely for the wellbeing of others that it never happened again. The strain that it caused to not just himself but his Sentinel, who was an adult college student at the time, was immeasurable. He would never forgive William Reid for the stress that his father placed on Spencer’s Sentinel due to his abandonment. As if having a crappy father of his own wasn’t bad enough, Tony had to live it all over again because of his Guide’s situation. He had always been sure that there would never be anyone else he hated more than William Reid and Anthony DiNozzo, Sr. It seemed though that the world was determined to change that.  
  
   
<p style="text-align: center;">~*~~*~ Flash Back ~*~~*~</p>  
   
  
One moment Spencer was crying in the corner of his bedroom, and the next he was a blue jungle. There was a giant lion laying in the blue grass with a young chimpanzee curled up between the much bigger animal’s front paws, which worried him. Somehow, he knew that the young chimp was his Spirit Animal and he was afraid of what the big cat would do to it.  
  
“Hey, it’s ok,” he heard and quickly turned to see an older man crouched down nearby looking at him. “Sampson won’t hurt him. Is he yours? The monkey I mean?”  
  
“He’s not a monkey,” Spencer corrected frowning as his small body trembled. “He’s a chimpanzee.”  
  
“They aren’t the same thing despite what people think. They aren’t even in the same group of primates. Chimpanzees are a type of great ape and are more closely related to gorillas or orangutans. Monkeys have tails and are lesser apes. They’re more closely related to lemurs and tarsiers. The only thing that chimps and monkeys have in common is that they’re both primates. Mom says that it’s Curious George’s fault that so many people are ignorant to the difference.”  
  
“Is that so?” The man asked smiling slightly. “You like chimps?”  
  
“They’re ok,” Spencer said turning to look at the young chimp, again. “Mamma says that I’m really smart. I’ll be done with High School in two years. Once that happens I want to attend Caltech. Mamma says that some people will call me a genius, but that labels are for lazy people and that I shouldn’t let someone confine me to a box. Are you my Forever? Mamma says that I’ll find my Forever when I am older. I really would like to be older now.”  
  
He watched Tony take a deep breath and look over to where the Spirit Animals were cuddling before turning his attention back to him. “I think so. What’s your name kiddo? I’m Tony.”  
  
“Spencer Walter Reid. I’m in Las Vegas in Mamma and Dad’s house. Only daddy left us, and now it’s just me and mamma. But she’s sick, and I don’t know how to take care of her all by myself, and I’m scared. Can you come get me, please?”  
  
He didn’t understand what he was asking due to his age despite how smart he was already. He only knew that he was scared and needed someone to come help him.  When the older man came over and settled at his side, he didn’t hesitate to curl up in his lap. He didn’t understand what a strain he was putting on his Sentinel, or how some would see such an act of comfort as something more. He only knew that he was terrified and that this was someone who could take care of him.  
  
The sound of the doorbell ringing echoed through the blue jungle, he found himself yanked from what he’d later find out to be the Spirit Plain and as a result refused to answer the door. When strangers appeared in his doorway, he’d wished he could crawl through the wall as he listened to his mother screaming obscenities in the background. Between the terror from his father’s abandonment and the pain from the emotional output he was receiving from most of the Las Vegas area, it wasn’t long before his world went dark. This time there was no blue jungle, just blessed blackness.  
  
When he woke up, there were two strange men in his room, and he desperately wished Tony was there with Sampson. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind then the large cat appeared at the end of his bed. When the large animal leaped up to lay next to him, Spencer had immediately curled his little arms around Guide’s neck, resting his cheek in his mane.  
  
“Hey, Spencer, my name is Blair Sandburg. I’m here to help you.” Spencer looked at the older Guide and was doubtful of his promises despite the warm feeling surrounding him.  
  
“Is Tony here?” He’d asked immediately. Then, he’d quickly followed that up with. “Where’s my mom?”  
  
“I want Tony or my mom,” Spencer demanded as he began to cry, again. “I know I’m supposed to be smart, and Mamma says I shouldn’t rely on anyone but myself to find the answers I need, but I’m scared, and I don’t know what to do. I want my Mamma or my Forever! Please, I need my Forever. You’re scaring me! Where’s Tony?”  
  
Spencer watched the curly haired man turn his head away from him and following his gaze saw the frowning man standing by the door with his arms crossed. He couldn’t feel anything coming off him and wondered wh that was because Blair was shielding him. When he was older, he’d understand just how much the situation upset the man who would become his friend and honorary Uncle.  
  
   
<p style="text-align: center;">~*~~*~ ~*~~*~</p>  
   
  
Out in the hall, Anthony DiNozzo, Jr was sitting on a hard plastic chair with his Uncle Stephen, who was a Guide, on one side of him, and his Uncle’s Sentinel, Marcus Stephenson, on the other side. Tony was in his practice uniform for Ohio State University, because he’d been in the middle of basketball practice when Spencer came online. By some miracle, his Uncle Stephen had been in the audience when the connection hit and managed to shield him quickly. So, by the time that he came back from his jaunt to the blue jungle with Sampson, everything was settled around him. Tony came online as a child himself the night his mother died. He’d been in the car with her, and the trauma of the event pulled him online. So, he knew what Spencer was suffering through being so young and having such powerful abilities inside of him.  
  
After some training though, Tony had been able to handle things by himself and hadn’t even needed a conservator. Once the investigation into Anthony DiNozzo, Senior was completed, and his role in his wife’s death was found, Tony’s life improved considerably. Tony always thought that the only reason Senior had paid for his crimes was because of Tony becoming an active child Sentinel. He firmly believed that, had he been a normal child, his father would have gotten away with his crime. As it was, he’d managed to buy his way into a misdemeanor charge and got away with time served and some probation.  
  
What it meant for Tony though was that the Paddington’s had a valid reason to seek custody of him. When things were finally settled, George who was the family head, ended up with Guardianship and Tony moved to England. When it came time for college, he decided that he wanted to go back to the states.  
  
As much as he loved England, and it had become his home, he missed his birth country, and chose Ohio State University because they’d promised him a chance for a spot on the basketball team if he would join the rowing crew. Happy to get a chance at the sport he’d loved as a child, he readily agreed, and after many discussions, his Uncle agreed to let him go. Of course, it didn’t hurt his plan that his Uncle Stephen, who was only 7 years older than him was already in the country teaching archaeology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Stephen was incredibly smart and had gone through his schooling well ahead of other children his age.  
  
“Fuck, Stephen, I’m so sorry,” Tony uttered for what seemed like the 12th time since he’d come back from his discussion with Spencer on the Spirit Plane. “I just keep fucking shit up for you two.”  
  
After arriving in England, Tony had bonded best with his Cousin Edward and his Uncle Stephen who were closest to his age. There had been many times that Stephen and Marcus had put things off because Tony needed them. At least, that’s the way it seemed to Tony.  
  
“Hey, none of that,” Marcus said sternly, and Tony turned worried and guilty eyes his direction. “There hasn’t been a second of our time with you that either one of us regretted. No matter what, it won’t be any different with Spencer.”  
  
“The only thing I regret is that we’ll be mostly cut off from you until he turns 18,” Stephen said softly, and Tony couldn’t help but hung his head. Stephen and Marcus were his lifelines. He knew that at 20 he should be ok with being on his own. Hell, his friends at college loved their independence and the distance between them and their parents. For Tony though, being so far from his Uncles and the rest of the Paddingtons felt like a prison sentence.  
  
“It is what it is,” Tony threw out philosophically. “I’m an adult, and he’s a child. His needs are more important than mine. You two are the only people in the whole world that I’d trust him to.”  
  
“You make sure that you keep in touch with Georgie and Clive,” Stephen ordered sternly as he forced his nephew to look up at him. “And, while Spencer and his needs are important, they will never be more important than you. You are as much a brother to me as my actual brothers are are and we thank the Gods every day that you came to England. Besides, we don’t know yet that it will be a total separation. Blair could…”  
  
“I can’t take the chance, Uncle,” Tony interrupted, his eyes drowning in a panic and pain that Stephen was well familiar with. “I can’t risk being like them.”  
  
“Anthony DiNozzo, you stop right there,” Marcus ordered drawing Tony’s attention again. “You are not now or ever will be like those men at your boarding school. While I understand your fear, I won’t allow you to insinuate something of the sort about yourself. You’re a good man, and we’ll work something out. At the very least, I’ll be able to get to your games and matches and come visit. As a Guide, it will be Stephen who will need to be around the young man as much as possible.”  
  
Tony took a deep breath, and slowly let it out as he nodded. When the door opened though, and Jim stepped out, he, along with Stephen and Marcus, immediately stood. “Jim?”  
  
Tony had a unique relationship with the Prime Pair of the Northern Hemisphere. The two had only been in their position for a little over a decade, and Tony’s situation had been the first of the sort that they’d had to deal with inside of the US. Because of that, they’d taken something of a vested interest in Tony ensuring that he received the love and care that he’d deserved. Blair and Jim both frequently came to see him, and it wasn’t unusual for the pair to show up at a couple of his games a year now that he was back in the States. “How bad is it?” Tony asked as Jim leaned against the wall across from where Tony had been sitting.  
  
“Well, you’re definitely going to have to see him, Kiddo,” Jim advised as he ran a hand over the top of his head. “He’s demanding to talk to either you or his mother, and since she’s obviously not available, then you’re gonna be it. Blair’s worried what will happen if you don’t talk to him. That said, we don’t want you to force yourself to do something that you can’t handle. I want you to know though that we all have nothing but confidence in your ability to stay in control of yourself in this situation. There are things that you, Marcus, and I need to discuss, but that can happen once we have Li’l Bit settled.”  
  
“How do I know that I won’t accidentally force a bond on him?” Tony asked nervously rubbing his hands together, and Jim tilted his head to one side before answering.  
  
“First off, you wouldn’t do that, and secondly Blare will be monitoring things closely. You need to understand though, Kiddo, that for the good of both you and Spencer, you need to form a Platonic Bonding with him before you head back to school.”  
  
“No!” Tony thundered as he stood in a panic. It was only the hand that Marcus put on his shoulder to turn him away from Jim and toward him that kept him from fleeing. “Hey, hey, it’s ok. Breathe for me, D. Look, why don’t you, Jim and I go into the room the hospital offered for your use and talk. Stephen can go in and let Blair and the kiddo know what’s going on.”  
  
Tony huffed as he folded his arms across his chest. “This is stupid. I’m acting like a baby.”  
  
“No, you aren’t,” Marcus said firmly but calmly. “You’re acting like someone who understands firsthand the consequences that occur when adults take advantage of children. You’ve been thrust into a situation that no one could expect you to be ready for. Bonding is stressful enough, but to find out that your Soul Guide is ten years younger than you when you’re barely out of childhood yourself would be a lot for someone who had come from a well-adjusted home.  Come on. Come with me. Jim, you too.”  
  
Not really being given a chance, Tony followed Marcus to the conference room on Spencer’s floor that the hospital staff had set aside for his use. Once inside, he flopped down into one of the comfortable chairs and stared at the floor until a cold bottle of water appeared in front of his face. “It’s gonna be ok, Kiddo,” Jim said as he held out the water. Nodding, Tony took it and flashed a weak smile before the Prime Sentinel and Marcus settled around him.  
  
“Let’s get this bullshit about you beating yourself up out of the way, ok?”  
  
Tony nodded, with both hands wrapped around the water bottle, and his eyes focused stubbornly on a specific tile on the floor. He was surprised that Jim didn’t demand that he look up. The older man usually did, but he appreciated the little privacy that he was being allowed.  
  
“Before either Blair and I or the Paddington’s could get you away from your asshole father, the bastard shoved you into a crappy private school after your mother was murdered. You were stuck there for 8 months while we fought him and the courts. If that wasn’t enough, the only friend you’d made at that shithole killed himself because a teacher was forcing him to have sex with him. You were, in my opinion, as much his victim as your friend despite the fact that he never touched you. Even without that, this situation with Spencer should freak you out.  
  
“You’re 20 years old, and he’s 10. Someone or something has given you one hell of a karmic backhand across the face. My guess is that you have so much information in your head right now from the classes you’ve been taking at OSU on Sentinel & Guide abnormal psychology, that you haven’t been able to stop and really examine how you’re actually feeling. So, let me tell you what I can see as the Prime Sentinel of the Northern Hemisphere, ok?”  
  
When Jim didn’t continue right away, Tony finally looked up and gave the man a hesitant nod before opening the water bottle and taking a sip. Fearfully, Tony looked at Marcus, as he briefly wished he was still small enough to crawl into the older man’s lap when he was scared. It had been a long time since he’d fit there, but he wasn’t sure that the occasional longing would ever go away.  
  
“I have witnessed a lot of couples in all different situations and at all of the bonding stages. I’ve seen healthy bonds, bonds that worried me, and some that made me hard just looking at them. I can tell you with absolute certainty and no input from Blair on your emotional landscape that you have zero sexual pull toward that child. None.  
  
There is nothing in you that wants to have a sexual adult bond with that boy. Not only that, but you’ve set up way harsher guidelines for yourself than any of us would for anyone in your situation.  While I think it unnecessary, I understand your wanting to keep a physical distance from the boy until he turns 18, and I commend you for it. That tells me that you are absolutely the perfect person to be looking out for his welfare. You are not that scumbag, Kiddo, and you need to stop comparing yourself to him. I swear to you on Blair’s life that I will personally be the one to oversee this Guardianship agreement and make sure that everything is done right. That means that you’re going to have to listen to me though. Deal?”  
  
Tony didn’t answer right away as he listened to his conscience war with itself inside of his head. It wasn’t until Marcus stood and moved to sit on the arm of his chair and rested his arm over Tony’s shoulder that he nodded his agreement. He would have answered verbally, but he was still too sick with fear to speak.  
  
“You need to agree to a Platonic Bond. I’m serious when I say that both you and he need it. Even with the Platonic Bond, you may need someone on hand to act as a temporary Guide. I have an idea on that, but if all else fails, your frat brother Steve should be perfect. You’ll also need to keep in contact with the kid. No matter how any of us feel, he’s already attached to you, and won’t handle you disappearing completely. Even with phone calls and letters, it may be rough for a while, but we’ll find a way to manage. Lastly, you are not cutting yourself off from Stephen for 8 damned years.”  
  
Tony opened his mouth to argue, but Jim just glared him into silence. “Blair and I are more than happy to have Spencer stay with us on occasion so that you can still see your Uncle. I’m not sacrificing you to save Li’l Bit when it isn’t necessary.  
  
“I need you to remember that the relationship between you and Spencer at this point is purely platonic, and that means that no one expects you to stay celibate for 8 freaking years. The bond should prevent you from forming any kind of long-term romantic attachment with someone who isn’t Spencer, but you will still be able to and need to see to your own sexual needs. I know you too well to think you can give up sex for 8 years and come out a healthy adult on the other end. Obviously, we’d all like you to be discrete, but don’t harm yourself by trying to live like a monk, ok? And remember. You. Are. Not. Alone!”  
  
Tony nodded, but when his mentor and basically Uncle, even though he and Stephen had never married, pulled his head down to rest on his shoulder, Tony didn’t fight it. For once, he decided it was ok, and allowed himself a few moments of comfort. Who cared if Tony wasn’t a child anymore? He was scared, and Marcus had been making the monsters go away since he was Spencer’s age.  
  
   
<p style="text-align: center;">~*~~*~ ~*~~*~</p>  
   
  
When the door opened, and the man from the blue jungle came in, Spencer found himself sitting up hoping that the man would come over and put his arms around him. It wasn’t often that he wanted to be held. His mother wasn’t big on the whole touch and cuddling thing, but Spencer needed the comfort that he knew Tony could give him. Something deep inside Spencer told him that this was the person that he’d always be able to trust no matter what, and being the smart little boy that he was, Spencer always listened to his instincts.  
  
When the older man came over and sat on the edge of his bed, Spencer happily scooted over to curl into his side. At first, he wasn’t sure Tony would comfort him the way he needed. It seemed like the man froze for a little while, but just as he was about to ask what was wrong, he put his arms around him and kissed the top of his head. “How are you doin’, kiddo?”  
  
“Better now that you’re here,” Spencer admitted as he turned his head to look at the others in the room. In addition to the two men that had been in there before, there were two other men that he didn’t recognize. He couldn’t help but scoot even closer to Tony.  
  
“Hey, it’s ok,” Tony assured, and Spencer managed to turn his gaze away from the strangers and toward his Forever. “They won’t hurt you. In fact, they’re here to make sure that nobody hurts you.”  
  
“But, that’s your job,” Spencer pointed out and frowned at the way the man sighed.  
  
“Yeah, we need to talk about that, Spence,” Tony advised softly as he ran a hand up and down Spencer’s back. He liked it because it made him feel safe. “I get the feeling that you’re really smart for your age, so I’m gonna just explain things. If you don’t understand something though, I need you to promise that you’ll ask a question, ok?”  
  
“Yes,” Spencer agreed watching Tony carefully. He looked nervous, and he wondered what he could possibly have to tell him that was so bad.  
  
“First, I guess, I need to make sure you understand what’s going on here,” Tony started, and Spencer saw that the frown on his face deepened. “I know that your Mamma talked to you about a Forever, but do you know what that means?”  
  
“You are my Forever,” Spencer said with certainty as he pushed up his glasses before launching into an explanation of his understanding. “I am what is called a Guide, and prior to today, I was considered latent because I was not online. When daddy…. When William left, I believe it drew me online pushing me into an Unbonded status. Mamma said that my Forever would be a Sentinel who would take care of me and love me because he was made just for me like I was made just for him. I think that when I was wishing for my Forever really hard because I was scared that it pulled both of us to the Spirit Plane. Because you are the Sentinel that it pulled there with me, logically that means that you are my Forever.”  
  
Tony offered a small smile as he nodded. “That’s about the gist of it, kiddo. Did your Mamma talk to you about Bonding, and what would happen?”  
  
Spencer nodded again as he eagerly relayed the information both his mother had told him and that he’d learned on his own afterward. “Mamma explained a little, but I researched it thoroughly afterward. I wanted to be sure that I was prepared should something like what is going on now happened. I know that for a full bond you would imprint all 5 of your senses on me and then we would have sex.”  
  
“That’s right,” Tony said, and it seemed to Spencer that he was tensing up even more. “Did your Mamma explain sex to you at all?”  
  
“Not really,” Spencer said frowning and chewed his lip a moment before going on. “She tried, but she was having a bad day. So, it didn’t make much sense. We did go over it in one of my health classes though. My teacher stressed to me that I was too young to engage in sexual intercourse. When I did my own research, I found that the age of consent in Nevada is… oh.”  
  
Spencer’s mind raced through the possibilities, and when he looked back up to Tony, he noticed things were blurrier than before. Impatiently, he pushed his hands under his glasses to wipe away the tears. “Does… does that mean that I’m all alone? What will happen to me? No one has told me about Mamma yet, but given her mental state when they came and got me, I cannot imagine that they don’t have her in a hospital. What’s going to happen to her? Am I going to have to go live with da… with William? Am I going to end up in a foster home? I don’t want to be without you!”  
  
When Tony placed another kiss into Spencer’s hair, he pressed his face into the older man’s chest and let himself cry. “Please, don’t leave me, too!”  
  
“Hey now,” Tony said softly as he held him. “No one is leaving you alone, and you aren’t going to any damned foster home. I would never let that happen. You also aren’t going back with that father of yours if I have any say in it. Come on now, let’s wipe your face off, and then there’s someone I want you to meet.”  
  
When Blair held out a washcloth to him, Spencer took it and gave a weak smile before running the cold cloth over his face. Once done, he put his glasses back on and leaned against Tony again. “Now, it’s important to me that you know I am not deserting you, Spencer.”  
  
Looking up at his Forever, Spencer sensed the honesty in the statement and after a few moments, nodded carefully. “I also want you to know that I understand what you’re going through. See, I came online when I was quite young, also. My mother was killed when I was a couple years younger than you. Since my father was the one who killed her, my mother’s family fought for custody of me. I was fortunate that the courts told my Uncle George and Aunt Olivia that they could raise me. It was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. One of the people I grew up with was my youngest Uncle, Stephen, and his Sentinel, Marcus. I have asked them to take over Guardianship of you.”  
  
Spencer noticed two men approaching the bed and turned his attention away from his Forever to the strangers. “Spencer, the man on the left with dark hair is my Uncle, Guide Stephen Paddington, and the blond is his Sentinel, Dr. Marcus Stephenson, whom I also call Uncle even though they aren’t married.”  
  
“But, why can’t I live with you?” Spencer asked quietly, and because Blair had him so thoroughly shielded, didn’t know how much pain his simple words caused the others around him. When Tony didn’t answer immediately, the newly introduced Stephen came around to sit on the other side of the bed from where Tony was perched.  
  
“I know that this is all confusing,” Stephen began carefully, “especially considering that even though you are a child, you still have some urges pulling at you.” Spencer nodded quickly as he clutched Tony’s arm half afraid the man would vanish.  
  
“The thing is though, kiddo, that you are Tony are at completely different places in your lives, and there are people who will think very badly about him even though there was nothing he could do to prevent your reaching out for him. They’ll assume that even though you will have what is called a Platonic Bond, that Tony wants to do bad things to you.”  
  
“You mean that they’ll think he’s a pedophile?” Spencer asked innocently. When he felt Tony flinch, he quickly shifted his gaze away from Stephen back to up Tony. “But he’s not! I know my Forever would never do the bad things to me!”  
  
“I know, kiddo,” Stephen assured drawing Spencer’s attention again. “We all want to be careful how this is handled, but Tony especially so.”  
  
Spencer’s mind sped through situations and scenarios, and eventually, he turned his attention back to Tony. “You’re going away.”  
  
“Just until you turn 18,” Tony admitted, and someday Spencer would understand the turmoil that his Sentinel had been under that day. In the moment though, all he understood was that Tony was leaving him too. “I’ll call you every day, and we can write letters, too. I just… I have to protect you, Spencer. I know that you don’t understand now and that it only seems like I’m just leaving you like your dad did. I hope that someday you’ll understand and forgive me. Right now though, I have to do what is best.”  
  
“Just go then!” Spencer shouted angry as he tried to push Tony off of the bed. “Go away just like daddy. Go away and leave me with these people I don’t know. Go! I don’t want you here! Leave me alone! I hate you forever!”  
  
“Spencer,” Tony tried, but Spencer just kept shoving at him. “Go away! Go away! Go away!”  
  
Finally, Tony nodded and crossed to the man they’d called Marcus. Spencer watched angrily as the two talked quietly before his Sentinel left. Tony was right. Eventually, Spencer grew up enough to understand. College would do a lot to open his eyes to concepts that 10 yr. old him hadn’t been able to understand, even if he knew them in theory. That day though, all he felt for the world, in general, was anger and hate.  
  
It would last until tragedy brought his Sentinel back into his life just two years later.


	2. Death and Forgiveness

Banner by G

 

  
Standing in the waiting room of the hospital, waiting for information from Gideon or Rossi about Emily’s condition, Tony found himself thinking back on his life since he came online, and Spencer entered his life. There were times that he still battled with his Guide to try and get him to forgive himself for how badly the young boy had reacted that first day. It seemed the older Spencer got, the more stubborn he got about it, especially now that he was an adult and understood the scars Tony’s past had left on him. Spencer recognized how hard on his soul being matched up to a 10-year-old was for the 20-year-old college student Tony had been at the time.  
  
“What are you thinking about?”  
  
Looking at Li’l Bit’s reflection in the mirrored reflection of the window thanks to the night beyond the hospital’s walls, he flashed a thankful smile and leaned forward into the other man’s touch. “Just reminiscing about when you came online.”  
  
“You mean, what a brat I was,” Spencer threw back making Tony roll his eyes.  
  
“I thought we agreed that you weren’t going to say that shit anymore?” Tony chided gently as he placed a kiss on his Guide’s neck.  
  
“You have your opinion on our past, and I have mine,” Spencer replied before leaning back slightly to rest his head on his mate’s shoulder.  
  
“Hmm,” Tony offered as he wrapped his arms around Spencer’s waist. “You know I hate it when you talk bad about yourself. You were scared and rightfully so. Your anger was understandable.”  
  
“Maybe so,” Spencer conceded frowning, “but stretching it out almost 2 years was a little much. I wish they’d hurry up and tell us how bad Em was hurt.”  
  
“Surgeries take time,” Tony reminded softly. “She’ll be ok, Spencer.”  
  
“I know,” Spencer replied back, but no sooner had the words left his mouth than a distinct sound of anguish was heard from Penelope.  
  
“NO!”  
  
Both Spencer and Tony turned quickly to see Gideon and Rossi standing in the entrance way. “She was simply hurt too badly,” Rossi said smoothly, and Tony couldn’t help but take in the rage, Morgan, and anguish, Penelope, that his coworkers were suffering. He could smell their emotions filling the room.  
  
He couldn’t help but think back to the day when he found out Alec died, and those that followed. As he stood in the waiting room, with his cheek rested against the top of Spencer’s head, and his arm wrapped firmly around his shoulder, the Sentinel let his mind wander as a sense of clarity and certainty began to build inside of him about what he always thought really happened  
  
Tony knew that neither he nor Spencer would forget the day that the Guide met the Marquess of Montagu whom he would in the years that followed come to call Uncle George because he was his Stephen’s oldest brother and Tony’s own Uncle.

  
  
   
~~*~~ Flashback ~~*~~  
 

  
The last almost 2 years had been a level of difficulty that Tony didn’t even know existed. He’d never had problems with his senses before Spencer coming online, but now that he was in this weird state of constant flux they felt like a wire with a short in it. Sometimes they were fully online, and Tony couldn’t function without a conservator, and others it felt like he didn’t have any enhanced senses at all. If it wasn’t for Dean, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.  
  
The day that he’d left Spencer’s room after being thrown out, he hadn’t made it all the way to the elevators before the first spike hit. While Marcus had been by his side, as a fellow Sentinel, there hadn’t been much that he could do to help. Fortunately, Stephen had felt something was wrong and quickly rushed to his side. After spending almost 24 hours in an isolation room though, the wire had moved again, and Tony had his first experience of having no enhanced senses at all since he’d come online at 8. As painful as the spike had been without a Guide, he would have traded it in a second for the dead zone he found himself in without his senses. During those periods he didn’t even have the senses of a mundane and felt as helpless as a newborn.  
  
It hadn’t taken long to determine that Tony was definitely going to need a conservator. Fortunately, the person Jim hinted at when they’d talked in the conference room was available and willing to help to solve two problems in one action.  
  
Blair and Jim recently helped an online but Unbonded Guide named Dean Winchester gain custody of his minor brother who was an online but Unbonded Sentinel that was showing signs of being an Alpha Sentinel. Both brothers came online at the same time thanks to the actions of their father, who to put it nicely, was batshit crazy.  
  
The man hadn’t taken the death of his wife in a house fire well, and his developing schizophrenia had drastically worsened. Unfortunately, without his wife Mary around, there hadn’t really been anyone else to help. One night about a month after his wife was buried, he left in the middle of the night, and no one saw them again until Dean showed up at a Sentinel and Guide center in Cascade begging for help. Dean had been just 18 and Sam was 10. It had taken Blair and Jim almost two years to help the older brother to gain full custody of his sibling. Dean was in college, and no one wanted him to give up his studies. So, finding him a place at Ohio State University with Tony was perfect. The two brothers got a chance to start over where nobody knew them and could learn to live in one place.  
  
Now, Tony and Dean were getting ready to graduate from OSU with Finals just recently completed, and Sam was graduating High School at 14. While he didn’t quite have Spencer’s level of genius, he was incredibly smart in his own right. He’d already been accepted to Stanford. The plan was that Sam would be starting there in the fall while living with Stephen and Marcus, who would be there with Spencer.  
  
At some point, Tony’s Guide had switched his mind about his college of choice, although the whys were unclear to Tony. It worked out well though because Sam already knew Marcus and Stephen from the times they’d visited Tony, and the teenager liked them both. They’d even managed to get John Winchester moved to Bennington where Spencer’s mother was, which made any visitation easier.  
  
They were trying to plan a graduation party for the three of them when the call came in from Marcus that they were needed in Vegas asap. “It’s Alec, Tony, and it isn’t good news. We can’t get Li’l Bit calmed down, and he’s calling for you.”  
  
Tony offered to go alone, not wanting to pull Sam out of school, but neither Winchester brother would hear of it. “It isn’t like Sam actually needs to be in class. He’s already got all of his final projects finished. We’ll go in and talk to his teachers in the morning and get whatever work he needs done that he doesn’t have. He’ll be back in plenty of time for finals.”  
  
“But he’ll miss Senior year activities,” Tony protested only for Sam to make a face.  
  
“Nothing I care about,” the soon to be 14-year-old shot back frowning, “besides, Spencer is your family, and I’ll be living with them in the fall.”  
  
“He’s more important than some stupid Senior Skip Day and whatever other crappy things that I’ll just get picked on for participating in.”  
  
So, the three men had taken an afternoon flight out of John Glen Columbus International Airport and were in Vegas by dinner time. Tony spent most of the flight contemplating the various relationships in his life. Despite Dean’s presence and the friendship that they’d formed, which would last well past this temporary Sentinel and Guide thing they were doing, it hurt every day to not have at least a Platonic Bond with Spencer. It constantly felt like there was a hole in his chest where the younger man should be. He’d always had something of a longing but knowing who his Guide was without being able to do anything about it just made things all that much worse.  
  
Spencer Reid had to be one of the most stubborn people that Tony had ever known of in his life. The kid certainly knew how to hold a grudge, which made the call for Tony’s presence all that more worrisome. Every time Tony tried to heal things between them, he got nothing more than the teenager’s version of go fuck yourself in return. It was part of why they were putting Sam with Stephen and Marcus. In fact, it had been Sam’s idea, to begin with.  
  
The boy had quickly developed a brother-like bond with Tony and knew how much it hurt the older man to have such a hate-filled relationship with his Guide. While it would be years before Tony would have to think about a full bond, he wanted to at least be able to be friends with Spencer, and Sam had made it clear that he was determined to make it happen.  
  
Tony loved the brother-like bond he had with Sam. The younger man had even switched from soccer to basketball because it was one of the two sports that Tony played at OSU. Since he had no siblings of his own, it helped him to understand the connection that his Guide had to his older brother Alec. It also filled a need that Tony never imagined he’d be able to satisfy.  
  
The relationship between Tony and Dean was complicated, and one that both men knew would last a lifetime. They quickly developed a friendship after meeting that each man had desperately needed, and more often than not turned to each other for their sexual needs. They each found it more straightforward than bringing an unknown into the mix that could make the already complicated situation even more confusing.  
  
Both Tony and Dean knew what the other’s situation was. Tony couldn’t and didn’t want to risk someone forming an attachment to him when he knew someday he’d have Spencer in his life. Dean just wasn’t ready to bring a Sentinel into the mix yet. Sam was his top priority, and until he was confident that his younger brother ok on his own and preferably bonded to his Guide, that wouldn’t change.  
  
As the flight attendant announced their final descent into the Las Vegas airport, Tony’s thoughts turned to Alec Trevelyan, and he couldn’t help but hurt over his Guide’s loss. He’d only met Spencer’s older brother once. The man had been waiting in Tony and Dean’s room at the frat house when they returned from a game. A room that had a locked door. Sitting in the dark. Menacingly. To say that the two men had been startled was an understatement.  
  
Tony was reasonably confident that he hadn’t been that scared since the night his mother died and hoped that he was never that scared again. When Marcus told him about Spencer’s older brother, he’d advised that he worked for an international import and export company. Tony could say with complete surety though that there was no way in hell that was the truth. Dean hadn’t reacted much better than Tony had, and for weeks after had nightmares that he refused to talk about.  
  
Despite his fear though, there was a part of Tony that was relieved Spencer had someone who loved him enough to go to the lengths Alec had to ensure his new Sentinel was worthy of him. Tony guessed that he must have passed the test because, by the time he left, the Englishman had promised that he’d try and get Spencer to come around and told him to just be patient. The Brit had left an impression on Tony that he would certainly never forget, and his death only made the Sentinel that much more determined to fix things with his underaged Guide.  
  
“I think I’m gonna actually miss that scary motherfucker,” Dean muttered from the seat behind him, and Tony flashed a sad smile over his shoulder in agreement. As the plane touched down, Tony couldn’t help but send up a request to whatever spiritual being or beings looked out for Sentinels and Guides that they were done taking people away from his young genius.  
  
Spencer was huddled up in a corner of his room with his arms wrapped tight around Samson’s neck and with Leonardo perched on his back petting his hair. He refused to talk to anyone outside of the haven his room had become and was determined not to speak to anyone until his Forever was there. If no one else would listen to him, then he wasn’t going to waste his time with them. Surely, Tony would listen. Alec had been chiding him about his treatment of his Sentinel for quite some time, and repeatedly advised him to give in and end what he called his temper tantrum.  
  
In the shadows of everyone’s insistence that his brother was dead, Spencer couldn’t help but regret that he’d stayed so stubborn and refused to give in. It seemed incredibly childish now, and despite the fact that in terms of life years he was only 12, Spencer hadn’t felt like a child in quite some time. It wasn’t a feeling that Spencer enjoyed, and it was a moment that would influence future interactions, especially the difficult ones. There had been an instance, just a quick flash that had been locked down almost immediately, where the devastation of being rejected had crossed his Sentinel’s face that day in the hospital when he’d thrown the older man out.  
  
The power to hurt another human being that badly with nothing more than words was one that Spencer found he wasn’t comfortable with.  
  
His mother always stressed to him how important words were, and even more important was how he used them. “There are so many different things that you can say with a word, Spencer, depending on how you say it. A good man is conscious of that and thinks about not just what he says but how he will say it before he speaks. Only fools just open their mouths and spew whatever comes to mind without a care as to how the other person will take it. You’re too smart to be a fool. Remember that, Spencer. Always be a good man and take care of how you share your thoughts with the world.”  
  
It wasn’t until that moment that he understood, really understood, what his Mamma had been talking about.  
  
He didn’t want to hurt people that way. He certainly didn’t want to hurt his Forever that way. He didn’t like it. Inside he felt ashamed and as if he’d been swallowed by a dark cloud when he saw that hurt on Tony’s face. He’d been so scared and hurt so badly with all the uncertainty and new sensations surrounding him, he’d just wanted someone else to feel what he did. Well, he’d certainly managed it, and he would always consider it one of the moments he was least proud of.  
  
Alec had actually told him that he was disappointed in him when he’d come to see him. Spencer hated that more than anything.  
  
Now, Alec was gone, or so they claimed. All he had left now, really, was the Sentinel that he’d shoved away with hate and said he never wanted to see again. He didn’t want to even think about what his mother said when he told her.  
  
“I love you, Spencer, and I will always be proud of you, but I raised you better than that. Those are not the words of a good man.”  
  
Yet, it still had taken Spencer almost two years and the loss of his big brother to come to his senses. Now, he could only hope that Tony was a better Sentinel than Spencer had been Guide. When his door opened, he peaked up over Sampson’s mane and felt his breath catch as Tony stepped inside of the room.  
  
“Hey, kiddo,” His Forever greeted and for once, Spencer didn’t stop to think. He just acted. Getting up he barreled around the big Spirit Guide, who disappeared along with Leonardo, and ran to Tony burying his face in the man’s chest. “Hey now, it’s gonna be ok.”  
  
Spencer followed along as Tony led him toward the bed, and when the taller man was seated, he crawled into his lap thankful for once that he hadn’t had his growth spurt yet. “They lied! Uncle George said that he’s dead, but he’s not! I can still feel him. He doesn’t feel the same, but he’s still there. Make them stop lying!”  
  
“Oh, Spence,” Tony murmured softly as he began to rock slightly when Spencer let go of the tears he’d been trying to hold in. “It’s ok. Just let it all out, and then we’ll talk.”  
  
So, let it out he had. For nearly an hour he’d sobbed and screamed and begged until the tears and emotions were all dried up. Then he’d sat snuffling on the older man’s lap with his arms wrapped around him and his mind numb. “Why are they lying? I don’t understand.”  
  
“I don’t know, kiddo,” Tony admitted still speaking quietly. “You said he feels different. What do you mean?”  
  
“It’s like he’s faded,” Spencer said painfully as he mentally tried to cling to the connection to his brother in his mind. “He’s barely there, but he’s not gone! I don’t understand why Uncle George is lying!”  
  
“Maybe he doesn’t know he is,” Tony offered carefully, and Spencer looked up frowning at that.  
  
“What does that mean? Either he’s lying, or he’s telling the truth. How can he lie and not know?”  
  
“Well, say I know something isn’t the truth,” Tony started as Spencer listened carefully, “and someone else needs to know the lie.”  
  
“I don’t want to tell them myself though, so I send someone else to do it. But, all I tell that person is the lie. So, the second person goes to deliver the news only knowing the part that isn’t true, and they tell a third person. That one in the middle is really lying but thinks they’re telling the truth. So, even though they don’t know it, they’ve really lied to you, the third person.”  
  
“Why would they do that, though?” Spencer asked frowning, and when Tony just shrugged.  
  
“I don’t honestly know. I don’t have any practical experience in this area, but my guess is that they would be trying to protect someone,” Tony conceded carefully as if he was thinking something over in his head. “As much as I hate to say it, L’il Bit, I think that you need to stop telling people that you can still feel him. Take that tiny bit of Alec that’s in your head and put him in a box. Seal it shut, and don’t ever look inside of it. ‘Cause, either he’s really dead, and you’re just feeling an echo of something, or he’s alive, and someone is trying to protect either you or him. If it’s the second one, then telling people you can still feel him will only put him in more danger.”  
  
Spencer never actually agreed to his Sentinel’s suggestion, and he was days before he talked again. He’d stuck to his Forever’s side though as long as the older man was there. When he had needed to go back to Columbus, he’d stood in the driveway and watched with silent tears falling down his cheeks. He’d made a new friend though in Sam Winchester and spent all summer writing letters back and forth to the other teenager. He’d also worked on his friendship with his Sentinel, and agreed to the Platonic Bond, which they’d gotten settled before Tony left.

  
  
   
~~*~~ End of Flashback ~~*~~  
   
  


While he never really forgot that he didn’t believe Alec was really dead, he eventually stopped thinking about it. That is, until that night in the hospital when Jason Gideon lied to them all.  
  
As Spencer pulled himself out of his memories, thankful that, at least, after those dark days, he’d had a better relationship with his Sentinel, he found himself glaring at the team’s lead pair. Being lied to once about someone dead that really wasn’t was bad enough. Twice in one lifetime was just possibly inexcusable. The ironic thing was that neither party that had lied to him could possibly know about the other, but it was the very thing that convinced him of the other’s deceit.  
  
Indeed, George Paddington, who had merely been playing messenger for MI6, didn’t know that Alec was alive. Most likely the man, whom Spencer respected a great deal, honestly thought that Alec was dead. While Gideon and Rossi both knew that Spencer had a brother named Alec, they had no idea what he did. They only knew that his brother was deceased and had worked for the British Government. Hell, Spencer hadn’t had any reason to believe he was anything other than what he said until years later when he joined the FBI and became more aware of how certain aspects of the intelligence community worked. So, it was somewhat ironic that it was the past lie that made the current one so glaringly obvious.  
  
“Spencer?” Tony asked softly, but Spencer just continued to glare, focusing mostly on Jason Gideon, who was staring back at him with that look of arrogant disdain of his. He’d called the man his mentor for years. While he could understand in theory the need to protect Emily from Doyle as she recovered, he had trouble with their execution, primarily when it related to himself and Tony. Surely, they knew that Spencer would be able to feel that she wasn’t really dead.  
  
He’d known others who really were deceased. Haley Hotchner was the first that came to mind. How he hadn’t caught the difference between her death and Alec’s before now, he wasn’t sure. Except that after considering Tony’s advice, he’d locked Alec up in a protective box in his mind that he just did not look in.  
  
If this fiasco with Emily hadn’t happened, it could have been several more years before he realized that he’d been right all those years ago. The child inside of him wanted to rage at the Sentinel and Guide pair who were looking at him as if he were a ticking time bomb. He’d long ago outgrown such impulses, but that didn’t mean that they would be let off scot-free for this fiasco they were perpetrating. He also noticed that JJ was looking in his direction with a closed off expression on her face, and a distinct tilt to her chin that almost dared him to contradict what the older men were claiming.  
  
Her going along with this mess just might piss him off more than Jason and Rossi. Unlike the Team Leads, JJ did know all about his brother, and also knew about his doubts surrounding the whole thing. She was probably the only person outside of the family he’d made for himself that he’d told about his misgivings about Alec actually being dead. Why she thought he wouldn’t know this all was a lie he had no idea. The facts of the situation simply outshone the untruths that they were trying to con the rest of them into believing.  
  
<strong>Fact:</strong> <em>Haley Hotchner was dead. The spot where she used to occupy in his mind, at the moment of her death, immediately become nothing but an empty hole.</em>  
  
<strong>Fact:</strong> <em>Alec never felt like that. If Spencer were to open that box right then, he knew that his older brother would still feel very much alive.</em>  
  
<strong>Fact:</strong> <em>Emily Prentiss felt just like Alec had and nothing like Haley Hotchner.</em>  
  
<strong>Conclusion:</strong> <em>Emily Prentiss was alive as was his brother.</em>  
  
She felt weak in his head, and he kind of remembered Alec feeling the same for almost a year after his fictional death. He guessed now that it had something to do with the seriousness of their injuries. As Spencer continued to glare at the Team Leads, he could feel something resembling regret in Rossi’s emotional makeup. He guessed that the Italian hadn’t wanted anything to do with this lie. Oh, sure he’d never say anything that countered his Guide’s schemes. Rossi was nothing if not an attentive Sentinel who did his best to always back his mate’s play.  
  
Gideon though…  
  
Spencer’s mentor hadn’t been the same since he came back from his breakdown after Boston. Since his return, he tended to overcompensate his weaknesses by wrapping himself up in his arrogance, as if he could fool people into believing it was the same thing as confidence if he just believed hard enough. Spencer knew that he should give them a chance to talk to him, and also knew that at some point shortly there would be a confrontation with the two men. This was not the moment though. He was no longer the reckless boy who’d hurt his Sentinel so severely with impulsive words of hate.  
  
“Spencer, the others are starting to notice,” Tony said softly, and Spencer turned around to face him.  
  
“They’re lying,” Spencer whispered softly into his Sentinel’s ear. Since there were no additional Bonded Sentinels on the team beyond himself and Rossi, he knew there was no way the wrong person would overhear them. Derek was classified as a sensitive, and Garcia was oddly enough just a regular human. In that moment he could give two fucks if Rossi knew. While he tried not to act impulsively on his feelings anymore, that didn’t mean he didn’t allow himself to feel them. He just tried to keep them wrapped up inside of himself for only he and Tony until he felt it appropriate to act upon them.  
  
“Emily’s alive. She doesn’t feel anything like Haley. She feels just like I remember Alec feeling though.”  
  
His Sentinel pulled his head back slightly to look at him and after taking the time to study him, gave a nod of understanding. Letting Tony make excuses about it being too soon for Spencer after Aaron leaving and therefore needing to get him out of there, the Guide kept his eyes trained on the floor as his mind worked furiously over what to do next.  
  
As far as he was concerned the FBI could go fuck itself. He would keep his mouth shut about Emily, but he’d have no part in continuing the lie otherwise. His and Tony’s time with the BAU was over. Spencer now had a much more critical task, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that his Sentinel would support him. He also knew without a doubt that it wouldn’t take more than a quick call to both Sam and Dean to get them to assist them. Something in Spencer told him that wherever this was taking him, he needed to bring the Winchester brothers along, and he was okay with that. They’d been such a large part of his life up until that point that he couldn’t even begin to imagine leaving them behind in this.  
  
As Tony pulled him out of the waiting room, Spencer gave one last look over his shoulder at the team before mentally moving on. It didn’t matter anymore what happened with the BAU. The connections that he was meant to keep he would. The ones he wasn’t just didn’t matter. He had a brother to track down, and that would be his sole focus until he had him back.


	3. Making a Break

Banner by G

Spencer was sitting in the passenger’s side seat watching the lights go by in the dark as they headed home. He felt a little guilty about making his Mate drive when he knew Tony had to be tired, but there was no way that he’d be able to get on a plane and fly home with Gideon and Rossi. His Sentinel must have known how close Spencer was to giving into his anger because he didn’t even question the request to drive, despite the fact that it was an 8-hour drive. Or, it would be typically. Given the speed, his Mate was driving though he guessed that it would be more like a 5-hour drive.  
  
He could feel Tony worrying about something because the anxiety over whatever was bothering him was bleeding into the bond. At first, he thought it was just this whole thing with Prentiss. He knew that Tony genuinely liked the woman and considered her a friend. However, after an hour on the road, Spencer was coming around to the idea that it was more than that. Whatever it was felt older than Prentiss. Like it was something he’d been worrying over for years and hiding it somewhere, but for some reason, it had come out of where ever he’d had it.  
  
“Whatever it is, just tell me,” Spencer said softly as he turned to look at his Sentinel and Mate. If he hadn’t, he would have missed how his statement affected him, because the only outward sign that he was right and there was something wrong was the slight flexing of Tony’s hands where they were gripping the steering wheel.  
  
“I don’t want you to be mad at me,” Tony said carefully, and Spencer leaned forward so that he could reach the radio dial to turn the sound off, “but I don’t know how you won’t be.”  
  
Spencer wasn’t sure what to do with that. Fighting with Tony was never one of his favorite things to do, and now was most definitely not the time for a fight. The thing was, he couldn’t think of anything going on that would lead to him being mad at his Sentinel of all people. He certainly didn’t have anything to do with the fiasco going on with the Prentiss and Doyle situation. It hadn’t even begun until Spencer mentally connected Prentiss’ fake death to Alec’s.  
  
Oh.  
  
Lowering his gaze to study his own hands a moment, Spencer pulled up his memories of Alec’s reported death and how Tony fit into the whole thing. But, as far as he knew, Tony didn’t have anything to do with that. His Sentinel was at college when Uncle George came to tell him that his brother had died. Tony wasn’t there until a few days later when the rest of them ran out of things to do to try and get him to come out of his room to talk. In fact, Tony had been the only one who believed him.  
  
Oh.  
  
“Does this have something to do with what you told me?” Spencer asked looking up and seeing the now obvious signs of stress on his Mate’s face. “Did you know Alec was alive?”  
  
“Not for sure,” Tony said quickly and risked a quick look in his direction. Just as quickly though he turned his attention back to the road. “Definitely not until you said that you could still feel him. Even then, though, it was mostly a guess that I had no way of verifying. Once I did have a way of checking into it, I was too afraid to try just in case I was right.”  
  
Spencer’s frown deepened as he tried to fit the pieces of the puzzle together in his head. It was fairly obvious though that there was something big that he was missing. “Just tell me, please? Not knowing what you’re talking about is just making it worse. I didn’t even know you knew enough about Alec then to have any kind of idea about… well, anything having to do with him.”  
  
Tony sighed and nodded but didn’t speak right away. Mentally, Spencer could feel him giving himself a pep talk before he began. Not being able to stand in not having contact with him any longer, Spencer reached out his hand, palm up, so that it could be held. It still took a couple minutes before Tony removed one of his hands from the wheel and twined their fingers together.  
  
“You have to remember that after Mom died, I went to school in England. Summer vacation and holidays though were always spent at Paddington Castle. So, while I didn’t have a ton of contact with what the Paddington’s really did for a living, there were enough odd things that by the time I met Alec I had a few ideas that he didn’t do import and export work.”  
  
Tony paused his story and stayed silent for a few miles as Spencer just watched him. He had at least a dozen questions that he wanted to ask but knew from experience that pestering him now wouldn’t help. So, as painful as it was, he stayed quiet and waited. Eventually, his patience was rewarded, and his Sentinel continued.  
  
“He showed up one night in the room Dean and I shared at the frat house. The fact that he’d gotten into our locked room inside a house that had people up and about at all hours should have been the first sign that he wasn’t what he said that he was. Dean and I came home from a game to find him sitting in the dark on a chair near the window with his gun resting across the top of his right thigh. Before we could even speak, he motioned us inside and told Dean to shut the door. He then continued to interrogate me like I was an unsub and he was Hotch or Rossi. I can honestly say that I hadn’t been that scared since the accident where my mom died when I was a kid. After a while, though he just gave a nod and told me to see to it that I treated you right and left. I suppose any of those things could have tipped me off, but…”  
  
Tony just shrugged and tapped the steering wheel a few times with his free hand before he went on. “It was the look in his eyes. I remember one summer when I was at the Castle Uncle Clive hadn’t been around. When I asked about it, everyone would just answer without answering, ya know? Then, one day he just showed up. Of course, the first thing I asked was where he’d been. He gave me the same non-answer as everyone else, but his eyes were different than I was used to. Now, I know that he still had mission stuff going through his head. Then though, all I knew was something wasn’t right. Edward told me later that day to not ask questions like that of his dad or Uncle Clive, and I never did, again. When I looked at Alec that night in my room, he had that same look in his eyes that Uncle had. Like he was one wrong twitch on my part from forgetting that he was around a civilian and not whatever scumbag that he’d been chasing.”  
  
“You think that my brother was a spy?” Spencer asked unsure of how he felt about the idea. He and Tony had been read in on what Edward did years ago when it was deemed that the two of them might be of use to MI6 on occasion. Spencer figured that it had also been becoming harder and harder to keep the truth from them once they bonded. They still often vacationed in England with the people who were as much Spencer’s family as they were Tony’s. Thinking back to the letters he had received from his brother as a child, he supposed that if Spencer looked at them with an adult’s eye instead of the child he’d been that it made sense.  
  
“It never occurred to me, but now that you say it, I don’t know why it didn’t. Is that why you told me to put Alec in a box in my mind and not let him out?”  
  
Tony nodded stiffly, his free hand still clenched around the steering wheel. “All I could hear in my head was Eddie saying, we don’t ask questions like that in this house. In fact, we don’t ask questions about anything much when it comes to their jobs. We just keep our mouths shut and pretend that we don’t notice the things that don’t much make sense. It rather works out for the best that way, I think.”  
  
When Tony risked another glance, Spencer tried to give him a reassuring smile and marveled that Sampson and Leonardo hadn’t appeared yet. Ever since the full bonding, the animals were almost always present when one of them was upset. “You were an incredibly inquisitive kid,” Tony offered, pulling Spencer away from his musings. “I knew that you’d just keep bringing it up unless you forced yourself to stop thinking about it. You said that your connection to him felt weaker, so I figured that meant that he was hurt pretty bad. I didn’t want him to get killed for real because you kept asking questions and the wrong people found out. I figured if he was really alive that we’d find out. Only, no one ever came forward, so I just figured we had it wrong somewhere.”  
  
“Could we just be wrong about Prentiss, and therefore making the wrong assumption about Alec?” Spencer asked wanting to make sure they had all their options covered. Tony quickly shook his head in denial though.  
  
“I heard JJ tell Jason and Rossi that she’d been listed as a Jane Doe and that the State Department would be taking care of the arrangements to keep her hidden once she recovers. I heard her say something about us, and Gideon replied that you’d believe whatever he wanted you to believe. I know that you look up to the guy, and I don’t wanna have another argument about him tonight but… damnit, Li’l Bit! The guy is an arrogant and manipulative prick. Maybe once he was the best of the best, but now he just uses you to keep himself looking good. You know as well as I do that the second Aaron left, our time with the BAU was running out as fast as an hourglass with a hole in it.”  
  
Spencer nodded as he held in a sigh. He should have known better than to argue with Tony about Gideon. His Sentinel had always been able to read people better than him despite Spencer’s Guide abilities. He just hadn’t wanted to admit that Jason changed so much after Boston. “You think Dean and Sam would move with us?”  
  
“I think that Sam turned down a promotion offer a week ago that he didn’t want us to know about because they’re waiting on us to tell him and Dean both that we’re leaving.”  
  
Spencer’s lips twitched with amusement. He wasn’t the slightest bit surprised Tony knew things he wasn’t supposed to. The DiNozzo and Deano Information Network was vast and efficient. Between the two of them, it didn’t seem like there were any secrets anywhere. “I’m not asking how you know that.”  
  
Tony threw a quick smirk at him before responding. “This time I wasn’t even trying. His boss called me in to try and get him to change his mind. Like I told Fornell though, Sam Winchester is the most stubborn man that’s ever been born. I’d have more luck moving the Rocky’s than changing Sam’s mind.”  
  
“We’ll go to Rossi and Gideon’s house tomorrow to give them our resignations. What are we going to do about the rest of the team?”  
  
“We can have JJ, Morgan, and Garcia over to the house tomorrow for dinner and explain. I doubt any of them will be truly surprised though. The team will be getting quite a few new people all at once, but we can’t help that. They should have replaced Hotch well before now. The Bureau would have taken him back in a heartbeat if he ever changed his mind. He won’t thank anyone for going against his wishes. I’ll call Uncle George before we go to bed and let him know that the four of us are on our way.”  
  
Spencer frowned not wanting to believe that someone else he trusted and respected as much as George Paddington was misleading him. “You think he knows about Alec?”  
  
“No,” Tony said quickly in denial, “and if he does, I think he found out well after the fact.”  
  
“I am fairly sure that Edward knows. I remember how upset you were that he wouldn’t look you in the eye the first time you saw him after Alec died. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were friends even. I think they’re only months apart in age. It would make some of the stories he’s altered in weird places make more sense if he was trying to remember to take Alec out of them. What I do think though is that there’s no one better to help us find your brother without the wrong people finding out. It’s been long enough now that there is no reason why they should still have to lie to you. If all else fails, we’ll just disappear to where ever they have Alec stashed. What’s the worst that could happen?”  
  
Spencer just snorted before turning the sound on the radio back on. Then, getting more comfortable in his seat, he looked out the window, and let the miles fly by as he considered all of the future’s possibilities.  
  
 

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
 

  
The next afternoon, Spencer was settling into the passenger’s side seat of Tony’s SUV as Dean and Sam headed off with Dean in his Impala and Sam with the rental car, which he was returning for them. He’d been quiet all morning and knew that Tony was worried. He also knew though that his Mate would give him the space that he needed. They both had moments where they got quiet and didn’t want to talk much as they processed things in their head. In fact, it was a trait that they shared with the Winchester brothers as well.  
  
He’d been happy to find out that Tony was right in that the two brothers had just been waiting for them to figure out what they wanted to do. Dean had only grumbled a little at being woken up for an early morning house meeting but settled down when he found out there were doughnuts to go with the conversation. By the time the four men headed to bed, or back to bed in the case of Sam and Dean, they had a firm plan of action on how to find out just where Spencer’s brother Alec was at.  
  
Ever since he woke up, Spencer’s mind had been comparing his childhood Guardians to his current mentors. It wasn’t surprising with the childhood that he had that he had a hard time letting people go when he should. Jason Gideon was a perfect example of that. Never one to sleep long, Spencer was up well before Tony and had settled in the window seat in the kitchen to look out at the world as his mind ran through every second of time that he’s spent with Gideon since about six months before Boston happened.  
  
Looking back on things as if he were profiling an unsub, it was much easier for Spencer to see the numerous moments where he was manipulated by the older Guide into seeing things his way instead of Tony’s or his own. That was maybe the thing that hurt the most, knowing that Gideon had been trying to come between him and his Sentinel. The man that Spencer was so completely Bonded with that he wasn’t sure there was a part of him anymore that Tony wasn’t a part of. What Jason was hoping to accomplish by the act, Spencer had no idea. It wasn’t as if he was compatible with Gideon, as they both were Guides. It also wasn’t likely that he thought he could take Tony for himself and not just because of the man’s existing bond with David Rossi.  
  
The fact was that the only reason Tony had tolerated Gideon from the very start was for Spencer’s sake, and maybe later for Aaron’s whom also saw Gideon as a mentor once upon a time. While Spencer had been enthralled by the veteran Guide right from the beginning, Tony had taken one look at him and hated him. Once when he’d asked him why the Sentinel had said there were two reasons. One was that it felt like the older Guide was trying too hard to manipulate Spencer into becoming Gideon himself and just expected that Tony would slot into a Rossi shaped box. While Tony liked Rossi well enough, he didn’t want to be him, and in fact, didn’t want to be anyone other than himself.  
  
The second reason he gave was the point where Spencer, at the time, had stopped listening and declared that Tony was just looking for things to hate about Jason. When Tony said that there was something about Gideon that reminded him of his father, the very idea was preposterous to Spencer. Anthony DiNozzo, Sr. was an alcoholic manipulative conman who had lost custody of his son because he’d succeeded in murdering his wife, but thankfully for Spencer failed in killing his son as well. Jason Gideon had at one time been close to being Reid’s hero.  
  
Knowing it would take a while to get to their destination with afternoon traffic being the way it was, Spencer closed his eyes and let his mind wander to the aftermath of him throwing Tony out of his hospital room.

  
  
   
~~*~~*~~ Flashback ~~*~~*~~  
 

  
Spencer watched angrily as the door closed on the man who was supposed to be his Forever but had failed him so spectacularly. Then, he turned that anger on the man who had introduced himself as Tony’s Uncle waiting for him and the man named Marcus to leave. When they didn’t, he scowled at them as the small monkey climbed up onto Sampson’s back. “Well, aren’t you going too?” Spencer spat annoyed, expecting that to get the pair to leave. When instead, Stephen came over and sat on the side of his bed, Spencer just scowled harder.  
  
“I’m afraid that you’ll find out we’re a tad bit harder to get rid of than that, young man,” Stephen said gently, and Spencer just narrowed his eyes at him. “Tony has entrusted your care to Marcus and myself, and I intend to do my very best to help you. Fortunately, this is not our first time taking care of someone who’s been mistreated by someone who should have loved him. Your anger is understandable, and to be quite honest, I would be more surprised if you weren’t bloody pissed off. You have been abandoned in some fashion by everyone who was supposed to stay by your side, even your mother and Anthony whose reasons are certainly more understandable.”  
  
“My mother loves me!” Spencer shouted angrily taking some satisfaction when the lion seemed to rumble unhappily. The older man though only gave a nod of agreement in reaction.  
  
“Yes, I am sure that she does, kiddo,” Stephen returned compassionately. “She will always love you. Unfortunately, your mother is quite sick, and cannot take care of you at the moment, as much as she would like to. Once she is settled and able to have visitors, Marcus and I will make sure that you get in to see her. She was not the one that I was primarily referring to though, little one.”  
  
Feeling his chin begin to tremble, Spencer just clenched his teeth together refusing to give into more tears. “I don’t want to talk about William. He left us.”  
  
“Then we won’t discuss him,” Stephen agreed reasonably and paused. Spencer felt as if he was being studied under the microscope his mother had gotten him for his last birthday. When the older man spoke again, it appeared that he’d been right. “It is quite alright for you to let those tears loose, little one. There is no one here who will judge you harshly for letting them go. I have not ever been one to prescribe to the foolish notion that boys should not cry, and I can assure you that my Marcus does not believe in such nonsense either. I would not tolerate it.”  
  
“I won’t cry for him,” Spencer shot back angrily, “Mamma says that only people you love deserve your tears.”  
  
“That may be true,” Stephen acknowledged carefully as Spencer watched him like a hawk ready to pounce on any hint of disparagement about his mother. “It seems to me though that you have at least a couple people you love to cry over. No matter the circumstances of why, both Anthony and your mother have left your side. I do believe that those are both reasonable events to cry over.”  
  
Spencer continued to glare at his new Guardian until his vision was too blurry to do so effectively. “I would quite like to give you a hug right at this moment, Spencer,” he heard Stephen say softly, but stubbornly fought himself from giving into it offer until he just couldn’t any longer. Then, with the tears still rolling down his cheeks, he crawled into the Brit’s lap and let all of his fear and sadness come out.  
  
Once he was done, and the tears stopped flowing, he felt Stephen lay him down, and place a kiss on his temple. “Never let anyone tell you that you are not allowed to feel whatever you feel, Spencer. If I can teach you nothing else, I hope and pray that I am able to teach you that. Marcus and I will always be here for you from today forward. You have my oath as a Paddington and on her Majesty’s honor.”  
  
Rolling over, he hugged the baby Chimpanzee who curled up in his arms and was glad to feel the large lion at his back. If he couldn’t have his Sentinel, at least he had his Spirit Guide. The Lion’s steady presence was something he’d refuse to question during the many months that would make up his separation from his Forever. His last conscious thought before sleep came, had been to ask upon waking if he could talk to his brother. If ever he needed his brother, it was now.  
  
 

~~*~~*~~ End of Flashback ~~*~~*~~  
 

  
Feeling a finger touching his cheek, Spencer jerked slightly as he came back to the present and was surprised to realize that not only was he crying but that they’d reached Rossi and Gideon’s mansion. “Sorry,” he offered when he saw and felt the concern with an underlying bit of hurt that he’d jerked away from the touch. “I was thinking about that day I threw you out, again.”  
  
He heard Tony’s sigh and blinked to clear his vision to really see how worried his Sentinel was. It was no secret amongst anyone who knew them just how protective Tony was of him. There was always a careful dance that his Forever did as he tried to balance his instincts with Spencer’s need for independence. It always made him wonder if Tony ever resented having to withhold certain parts of himself just to make Spencer happy. He hoped not. He didn’t think that it was awfully mentally healthy for his Sentinel to have to be forever suppressing bits of himself.  
  
“Will you ever let that go?” Tony asked softly, and Spencer was pulled out of his head once more. “I hate that you still feel guilty for that. You were 10 Spencer. You weren’t and shouldn’t have been expected to understand why I couldn’t be around you. No 10-year-old should understand such complex sexual impulses or fears. I wasn’t mad that you threw me out, and no one else that I give a fuck about did either. It’s simply part of the path that we had to walk to become who we are today, and I happen to love who we are today. Rossi just came out to see what we’re doing.”  
  
Spencer turned his head to look back out the front window to see Dave standing on the front porch looking at them. “I guess that it’s time then,” he said carefully, and when Tony kissed the back of his hand flashed him a grateful smile before getting out of the SUV. The upcoming meeting wasn’t going to be pretty, but at least he had his Forever by his side.  
  
Tony waited at the front of the SUV for Spencer to meet him there and held out a hand for his Guide to take. He knew Dave was watching them like a hawk, and it was part of the reason why he was doing it. He wanted there to be no doubt that he and his Mate were wholly united on what was to come. As far as Tony was concerned it was too long in coming as it was. As the two of them approached the front door, Dave waited for them on the porch without Jason anywhere in sight.  
  
“I’m glad that you kids came to see us,” Dave greeted appearing to be smiling easily. “Jason and I have been worried about you. I know that you two were close to Emily, and must be taking her death hard,”  
  
“Wow,” Tony offered but told himself that he needed to try and keep his mouth shut. This should be Spencer’s confrontation, not his. Sampson appeared between him and Spencer to give a grumble of disapproval with Leonardo sitting on his back in his usual place chattering unhappily waving his hands around.  
  
“Why don’t we wait until we’re with Jason to get into Emily,” Spencer said with a definite edge in his tone that the veteran Sentinel didn’t even blink at. “I assume that he’s waiting in the library for us? I have no doubt that the two of you knew that this confrontation was coming.”  
  
“This way,” Rossi instructed as he turned and headed back into the house. Tony started to follow but stopped when his Guide didn’t move. Curious, he turned to look at Spencer with his head tilted to one side in question.  
  
“If you need to take over, I want you to do it,” Spencer said sounding determined, and when Tony opened his mouth to argue, his Mate just barreled on. “No matter what you’re telling yourself, this isn’t just my confrontation. I’ve ignored your instincts for too long and gone along with you stuffing down your own needs and instincts to make us happy. I won’t do that anymore. We need to do a better job of allowing each other to be our natural selves without ignoring who the other person is outside of being a Sentinel or Guide, and it starts now. If you need to step in with Jason, I want and expect you to do it.”  
  
Tony wanted to argue but knew when his Guide had made up his mind, and honestly, it was something that he needed. Despite how long they’d been Bonded, sometimes Tony felt like they were still learning how to be together. He wondered if they’d ever figure it out and thought silently that maybe he should find time to sit down with his Uncle George and talk about personal things when they were in England. Uncle George and Auntie Olivia had been together a million years and were the Sentinel and Guide pair that Tony tried to emulate his own relationship after.  
  
So, without speaking, he just gave his Guide a nod and stepped forward to lead Spencer into the house with Sampson and Leonardo proceeding them. Having been there often in the past, they were all familiar with where the Library was located, which was why Rossi hadn’t waited for them. Well, that and he was sure the older man wanted to whisper warnings to his Guide before they got there. Not that it would change Gideon’s mind or course of action. There just was no one more stubborn or arrogant. Once Jason Gideon made up his mind about something you just were not changing it.  
  
When they walked into the room, Tony almost snorted when he saw that Jason and Dave were seated on the room’s only sofa leaving Tony and Spencer to be separated by having to sit one each in the two wingback chairs. Leading Spencer to the one furthest from the pair, Tony set Spencer in the chair and then perched on the arm with Sampson settling at Spencer’s feat where he could glare at Jason easily with his tail sweeping from one side to the other in apparent agitation. He was still letting out an occasional rumble of unhappiness, which should have signaled Tony’s mood at least, but Jason looked and smelled entirely unphased for Tony.  
  
“So, how are you two taking Emily’s death?” Jason asked folding his hands across his lap. His raven was perched behind him on the back of the sofa next to Rossi’s eagle. The two birds at least seemed to have the sense to look uncomfortable with the situation.  
  
Tony gave a chuckle that held no mirth as he shook his head and looked at Spencer who was just looking back at his mentor. He could feel his Guide’s sadness dwindling into acceptance and wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. “I had some hope that Tony was wrong, and you weren’t going to really try this bloody ridiculous path, Gideon,” Spencer said sounding all British and proper like the Guide always did when he was aggravated. It was a side effect of growing up with two Brits and always made Tony smile as he had the same tendency if he wasn't careful.  
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Spencer,” Jason said calmly as he looked back at them trying to look concerned. “I’m worried about the two of you not taking this well. I knew her sudden death must be hard on you both.”  
  
“Oh, stuff it, Special Agent Gideon,” Spencer spat, and Tony’s lips twitched drawing a glare from his Mate, but a mental eye roll was sent through their Bond letting him know he wasn’t agitated. “We all know that Emily Prentiss isn’t really dead. For God’s sake, I am a higher rated Guide than you, and Tony is stronger than Rossi. Surely you must have known that you can’t hide this from us! I can still feel her bloody bond with me, and Tony heard the bleeding conversation you had with JJ!”  
  
“I don’t know what you’re referring to Spencer,” Jason said stubbornly sticking to his script. “I’m even more worried now though that the two of you are having some kind of shared delusion over this. It isn’t uncommon for a pair as closely Bonded as the two of you to have a break at the same time. I can assure you that Emily Prentiss is very much dead. We’re planning her funeral as we speak.”  
  
“Oh, do stuff it, Gideon,” Spencer threw back angrily as Sampson stood with Leonardo sitting up to chatter again as the big lion began to pace in the space between the two couples his twitching tail revealing his continued unhappiness. “Assistant Director Evans has already confirmed our suspicions and accepted our resignations. This meeting is nothing but a bloody courtesy. So, let’s drop the portion of the program where you try and manipulate us into something. Despite what you believe, I actually won’t believe anything you want me to believe, SSA Gideon. I do believe that was how it was worded, wasn’t it, Tony?”  
  
“Yup,” Tony confirmed directing his glare at Rossi, who should know better than to go along with this madness. The man needed to be doing a better job of reigning in his Guide instead of just letting him run around and cause havoc all over the place.  
  
“The direct quote was ‘Spencer Reid will believe whatever I want him to believe, and his Sentinel will keep his mouth shut, or I’ll see their Bond broken.’ How you think you’re going to accomplish that when the reigning Sentinel and Guide in the world have been like Uncles to me since I was a child is beyond me. I can assure you that Blair was most unamused to find out that you think you can just sever a bond whenever you want and is looking forward to discussing some things with you. I’m afraid though that we won’t be sticking around for that. We have much better things to be doing than watching your long coming downfall, Gideon.”  
  
“Good,” Jason said with a nod appearing smug. “I assume then that you’re finally going to look for Spencer’s brother. It’s about time that the two of you realized that he was alive. I’ve known for quite some time. Hopefully, your inquiries will go better than my own did. I am assuming though that with Tony’s family connections finding out the truth will be quite simple. I look forward to finding out where he is. Make it quick though. We won’t hold your spots for long.”  
  
When Sampson lunged at Jason, Tony didn’t even try and calm the massive Spirit Guide, which was much larger than even an ordinary lion was. He was too preoccupied with trying not to attack the Guide himself and knew that Sampson wasn’t solid enough to do actual damage, no matter how pissed he was at Jason at the moment. Leonardo, though, did abandon ship to chatter angrily at the other Bonded couple and their Spirit Guides from the safety of Spencer’s lap.  
  
“You put Alec in danger by looking for him?” Tony growled deep and low sounding more like Sampson who whose low and deep growls should have been a red flag of danger to Gideon. Rossi at least looked worried for all of Jason’s nonchalant expression.  
  
“Please,” Jason said in complete disregard for Tony’s concern as he waved a hand in the air as if he could actually brush off the nagging feeling. “It’s been years. How much danger could he possibly be in? Besides, I was careful in whom I asked.”  
  
“You were careful,” Tony parroted not realizing he’d stood and dropped Spencer’s hand to move to stand in front of him to block his Guide from Jason and Dave’s views protectively. “You were fucking careful? I know for a fact that you don’t have the connections to make those inquiries carefully, because I fucking personally either blocked you from making those connections or severed the ones you already had. You’re damaged, Guide Gideon, and it’s suddenly crystal clear that you’re even more damaged than any of us thought because you actually believe the bullshit that’s coming out of your mouth.”  
  
“As if you have the ability or training to judge me,” Jason shot back still unconcerned but obviously annoyed at his competency being questioned. “You are nothing compared to me. I built the BAU from the ground up. I know more about people than you could begin to. As to you severing any connection I have it’s preposterous. You don’t have anywhere near the clout to damage my relationships.”  
  
Tony couldn’t help but laugh at that and felt Spencer retake his hand. It would help him to keep his head despite his anger. More than that, he felt better than he had in quite some time when his Guide didn’t try and retake control of the conversation and instead let Tony protect him as his instincts were screaming to do. “That last statement alone tells me that you have no bloody clue,” Tony spat back as his own British tendencies started to bleed through.  
  
“You aren’t just damaged, Gideon, you’re broken, and it’s evident that it's irreparable. More than that though, you’re possibly a danger to both yourself and those around you with your delusions of your own power and grandeur.  You are not in control of this situation, and you never were. If Emily’s safety is dependent on you in any way, then she’s in deep shit. I can promise you that you’re going to quickly find out how much clout I do or don’t have.  
  
“John will be getting my recommendation that you’re sent to Cascade for evaluation and I will be making a call to Uncle Blair to ensure that he or Robert Calhoun, who oversees the center there and is as sharp as they come, personally handles your evaluation.  As to Emily’s safety, I can promise you that her care will be taken out of both of your hands and JJ’s too if I have anything to fucking say about it. I can promise you that it won’t take much for me to have quite a bit of say in the matter. Consider this your one and only warning to stay the fuck away from and out of anything to do with myself, my Guide, my family or my friends or I will personally fucking make sure that you are lost somewhere that you’ll never be rescued from.”  
  
“Your posturing is amusing but ultimately unconcerning,” Jason sniffed settling back against the sofa. “I hope that you two find Alec healthy, but I’m afraid that I won’t be able to allow you back into the BAU after this. Spencer, don’t worry. I will get you rescued from this abusive Bond, and you can come stay with David and myself until we find you a better match.”  
  
Feeling movement from behind him, Tony shifted forward and to the side slightly as his body quivered with anger. It was becoming difficult not to attack the clearly disturbed man in front of him. So, instead of dealing with Jason, he turned his sights to Rossi and was at least comforted that one of them looked concerned. Although, the fact that the Sentinel was sitting there mute and letting Jason run his mouth was an alarming sign, and for the first time he wondered if Jason’s damage wasn’t affecting Rossi as well. It was definitely something that he’d have to bring up to Blair and Jim and make sure that Rossi got his own evaluation in Cascade.  
  
He knew his Guide was thinking along the same lines when he spoke directly to Rossi and ignored Jason completely. “You’re doing him no good in ignoring the now obvious problem. As someone who grew up with a mentally ill mother, I know how hard it can be to admit that there’s a problem. You have to know at least now though that there’s a grave issue here. I suggest you make sure he doesn’t do something that will get him in more trouble than he’s already in. Don’t look for Emily. I will be calling JJ and make sure she knows that her safety is in danger and whatever plans they had needs to be changed. Don’t call us. Don’t look for us. Pretend that you never knew us, because if I ever see either you or Jason again I’ll gleefully help Tony’s family completely destroy the two of you. Goodbye, Rossi. Despite how it ended, it was an honor, and I learned a lot from the two of you.”  
  
Tony for his part just glared at the other Sentinel, and after Sampson collected Leonardo, followed his Sentinel Guide from the room as the lion headed out with a fast trot that showed he was still quite angry. When they reached the car. Tony unlocked it, but then held out the keys to Spencer before moving to the passenger’s side. It wasn’t often that the Guide drove. Mostly because his mind was always so active that he had to some days work to stay focused on what he was doing and not get lost in something that he was poking at. Today though, Tony knew he was too upset to get behind the wheel, and just wanted to put this whole mess behind them.  
  
It was a sign just how close he and Spencer were that his Guide didn’t question the unspoken request to drive. Once they were both settled inside of the car though, he did turn and look at Tony. “I know that it’s not needed, but I will say it anyway. Not even when I was a child and didn’t understand why you wouldn’t stay with me did I think what was between us was abusive. You are the best of me and the best thing that ever happened to me, and I would never allow someone to sever our Bond. Make whatever calls you need to, to wrap this whole mess up. By the time we get back to the house, I’d like to be able to focus our lives on what’s coming and leave the BAU and more specifically Jason Gideon very firmly behind us. Should we cancel the dinner tonight?”  
  
“No,” Tony said quietly after a long pause to make sure he could be honest about the night’s planned event. “They deserve a chance to say goodbye, and now more than ever need to know the truth about what’s going on. I’m going to call JJ after I talk to John though and warn her about the Emily bit. I don’t know if we’ll be able to bring that up. I’m going to recommend that we read them in. If it’s ok’d then I think we need to tell them the truth about Alec. I will leave that up to you though.  
  
“I know that Garcia is excitable, but she knows when she needs to keep a secret. Derek knowing will make it easier on her, and there’s a chance that JJ will start to put things together. I’m sorry that it went the way it did, but at least now we know why he’s been doing the things he has. Jason’s obviously ill and needs help. Blair will make sure that he gets it. I just hope that they can save Dave, and he hasn’t been permanently damaged too.”  
  
“It is what it is,” Spencer offered philosophically as he started the car and began to move down the drive. “We still have each other, and I will find my brother. That’s really all I care about right now. Jason Gideon and David Rossi are on their own now. I can’t… I’m done there.”  
  
Tony nodded and turned his attention to the scenery out his window before starting his calls. He too was anxious to find out just where Alec Trevelyan had been all these years. If for his Guide’s sake than anything else, he would see the two brothers reunited. There would be a happy ending to their story.  
  
 

 


	4. Starting the Hunt

Banner by G

 

  
Spencer was seated on the plane headed for London so that they could begin their search for his brother, Alec.  The four of them were in first class because Tony declared that he had the money to afford it and didn’t think any of them needed to be scrunched up in a standard seat for the entire flight. He and Dean were seated in front of him and Sam. The two older men were arguing about classic muscle cars vs. imports, and Spencer had a feeling it was to help keep Dean calm. The elder Winchester hated flying, and Tony knew it. Although given that Spencer knew for a fact that his Mate’s two favorite cars were the Ferrari and the Jaguar E-Type, it was hard to say if he was serious in his argument or just trying to wind Dean up.  
  
Spencer was seated at the window, and Sam was on the aisle because he was the tallest of the four of them. Even though Tony was the taller of himself and Dean, he was at the window so that Dean could get up if needed. Spencer enjoyed the friendship his mate shared with the elder Winchester brother. His own friendship with Sam meant a lot to him, and he liked knowing that Tony had something similar. Spencer knew that some people wondered why they kept Sam and Dean so close to them both, but it was just something that Spencer had never been able to explain. When he was a child, Sam said that he’d always be there, and never leave him. So far, he’d kept his promise.  
  
As he went to sleep, Spencer thought about those first days when Sam came to live with them.  
  
 

~~*~~*~~*~~ Flashback ~~*~~*~~*~~

  
   
  
Spencer was sitting on the end of his bed with his hands folded across his lap. His suitcases were packed and sitting nearby. He wasn’t sure where he was being sent now. He only knew that Sam Winchester was coming to live with Stephen and Marcus. So, logically to him, that meant that he must be leaving. He’d been working through the possibilities and scenarios in his head since he’d met Sam, and couldn’t imagine why they would keep him.  
  
Spencer had been trying to hide his upset over it but wasn’t sure he had done a very good job. Stephen kept shooting him concerned looks, and Marcus had prodded at him during their last session. He didn’t want to burden them any further though with his thoughts and feelings. He’d done that enough already and look where it had gotten him.  
  
He hoped that either Uncle Stephen or Uncle Marcus would tell him where he was going to live before they dropped him off at the airport. While he would be 13 soon, he was reasonably sure that he wasn’t going to live with his Forever yet. Spencer knew that he had to wait until he was 18 before they could be together. Maybe he would be going to live with Blair and Jim. He supposed that wouldn’t be terrible. He liked visiting them when his Uncles went to see Tony. He wasn’t sure though how much time they would have to raise him and doubted that was where he was being sent.  
  
He didn’t want to live in some foster home. He’d heard stories at school, and while he was reasonably sure that they all weren’t as bad as he’d been told, he knew how his luck ran. He knew that he would be going to college soon. Maybe he was being sent early to live in the dorms. He didn’t really want to live there either. They’d bought all kinds of cool things to decorate his new room when they moved, but he supposed they could take those back.  
  
When the door to his room opened, he looked up and hoped that he didn’t look as afraid as he felt. “Spencer, are you almost ready? We need to… Spence?”  
  
Spencer stood up from the end of the bed and curled a hand around one suitcase handle and clutched the strap of the messenger bag Tony had gotten him with the other. “I’m ready. Can you tell me where I’m being sent?”  
  
“Oh, Bit,” Marcus said looking devastated for a moment, and when he turned his head to holler down the hallway for Stephen to come right away, Spencer found himself frowning confused.  
  
“I’m sorry if I wasn’t supposed to ask,” Spencer offered, biting his lip.  
  
“Marcus, what?” Stephen started as he suddenly appeared in the doorway behind his mate. “Spencer? Why are your things packed? Marcus? Why are his things packed?”  
  
When his Uncle Marcus replied, his eyes were shiny like they were before someone cried, and his voice was deeper than Spencer was used to. “Li’l Bit wants to know where we’re sending him.”  
  
“Oh, oh God no, Spencer,” Stephen murmured sounding broken, and Spencer saw him clutch the doorjamb for a moment as if he was trying to hold himself up. He watched as the Guide dipped his head near Uncle Marcus’ neck before he straightened and entered the room. Spencer was confused when Uncle Marcus followed close behind but sat back on the bed next to his Uncle Stephen as Marcus knelt at their feet.  
  
“Spencer, why do you think that you’re being sent away?” Marcus asked carefully as Uncle Stephen’s arm rested on Spencer’s shoulders.  
  
“Sam is coming to live with you,” Spencer said factually not understanding why they didn’t get it. “That means that I must be going somewhere else. We picked out stuff so you could decorate my room with his new things. Am I living in the dorms? It would be better than living in a foster home. I don’t think I want to live there.”  
  
“Why would we send you away because of Sam though, Spencer?” Marcus questioned carefully as his Uncle put a hand on Spencer’s knee. “There’s plenty of room on the new house for you and Sam both. Part of the reason we agreed to keep Sam was so that you’d have someone who was in a situation close to your own to be friends with.”  
  
Spencer tilted his head to one side as he frowned at the statement. “I don’t understand.”  
  
“We’re not sending you away, Bit,” Stephen said before pressing a kiss into Spencer’s hair and pulling him closer so that their sides were touching. “You’re like our own son. We love you, and we have no interest in you going anywhere that we won’t be. At least, not before Tony can be with you. Sam isn’t taking your place. He’s getting a room of his own in the new house. So, instead of having a guest room, you two will take turns bunking together when the family comes to visit.”  
  
Spencer felt his lip tremble as he turned his eyes up to meet Stephens. “I’m not being sent away?”  
  
“No, Bit,” Stephen assured, and before Spencer knew it, the dam holding his fear broke letting lose the tears he’d been holding in. He felt the bed dip behind him, and when he felt Uncle Marcus hug him from behind, he started to feel better. Spencer didn’t understand where his logic had gone wrong and would have to review his facts. He was glad to find out though that he wasn’t being replaced, and his Uncles still loved him.  
  
Spencer felt like he was almost a completely different person as he stood at the gate in the airport waiting for Sam to come out. His Uncles told him that he had just enough time to make a sign with Sam’s name on it before they left. One thing that had changed drastically since he’d come to live with his Guardians was how they encouraged his creative side, which he hadn’t even known that he had. It wasn’t that his mother had discouraged him from being creative, it just wasn’t something that she thought about. Because he liked to learn, that was what she encouraged him to do, and there hadn’t been much exploration of outside things.  
  
For instance, his Uncle Marcus was teaching him all about cars and how to fix them. He enjoyed it so much that, on the way to the airport, the older man had suggested that the two of them and Sam go to the junkyard after they move into the new house in Pasadena and pick out something to fix up. His Uncle told him that Sam’s older brother and Tony liked to work on cars, and Marcus thought that maybe having a project of their own would help not make them miss the two so much.  
  
Then there was the drawing and painting with his fingers. He’d never tried to draw, but he remembered liking finger painting when he was really young. His Uncle Stephen refused to call his painting finger painting because he said that made him think of a preschool class but what Spencer was doing was so much more than that. Lately, he’d begun to experiment with both the drawing and the finger painting. His Uncles had both offered to get him art classes, but Spencer refused. He liked learning about it on his own and figuring things out by himself. Classes would make it more like work. Luckily, neither man pushed it since Spencer was having fun figuring out things for himself. He’d probably never have works hanging in a museum someplace, but for the moment his Uncle’s refrigerator was just as good to him.  
  
“Is that them? Hold your sign up, Bit.”  
  
Trying to see around all the people, Spencer held up his homemade sign with Sam’s name on it. At 13, he was still waiting for his next growth spurt, and while the first one helped, he still wasn’t quite tall enough to see over everyone yet. The kids at school had teased him because Spencer was so short on top of being younger than everyone in the class, and while the Guide hated the names they called him, Spencer loved when his Uncles called him Bit or Li’l Bit. He could hear the love when they said it and knew when he heard it that he was still special to them. He didn’t imagine that he’d ever be too old to not love hearing that name.  
  
“It’s them, Bit!”  
  
Spencer scanned the crowd at his Uncle Marcus’ words and saw an older African-American couple with the boy he’d met earlier in the year when Alec died. As the trio headed toward them, Spencer heard the boys say, “look, that’s me,” and he knew that his Uncle had been right.  
  
As they stopped in front of them, Spencer tuned out the grownups doing the polite adult greeting stuff and focused on the smiling boy in front of him who was tugging on the sleeves of his too short hoodie. Lowering his sign, Spencer smiled shyly as the other boy grinned at him and babbled excitedly. “It’s nice to see you again! I can’t wait to get to do all the cool stuff we wrote about. It’s so cool you know who your mate is already. Tony’s awesome. He said that you were really smart like I am. I hope we get along as good as him and Dean does.”  
  
When Sam then lunged forward and hugged him unexpectedly, Spencer may or may not have squeaked at first, but soon just went with it. It wouldn’t take long for Sam’s hugs to become one of his favorite things in the entire world.  
  
The next day, Spencer found himself sitting under a tree with a book and four Spirit Animals sprawled around him. Sam’s brown lab puppy, Lionel, was sprawled out with Leonardo on his back. Marcus’ brown bear, Yogi, was laying next to Spencer and Stephen’s Mountain hair, Coinín, was lying protected underneath the massive animal’s head even though Stephen was inside doing some research for one of his papers.  
  
He was supposed to be readying himself for some of his classes coming up but found himself spending more time watching Uncle Marcus helping Sam with his soccer. Spencer was as uncoordinated as a person possibly could be, but apparently, that wasn’t the case for his new friend. He was somewhat fascinated by it all and found himself doing more watching than reading. He kinda wished that he had a pad of paper and his pencils because Spencer liked to try and draw what he was seeing. He only hoped that the image would stick in his mind until he could get into his art room to draw later.  
  
When Sam came running his direction, Spencer put his book flat on his lap as he watched the slightly older boy expectantly. “Come play with us, Spence!”  
  
“Oh,” Spencer murmured frowning. “I’m not very good at… well, anything athletic.”  
  
“We’re just kicking the ball around now, Bit,” Marcus explained patiently as he wandered over as well. “Just having a bit of fun. Sam’s practice time is over. I know for a fact that you’re way ahead in your reading for that class. Why don’t you put your books down and come kick the ball with us? It’ll be fun.”  
  
Usually, Spencer would stick to his no, but there was just something about the hopeful expression on Sam’s face that made him put the book aside. Sam shouted happily and ran back into the yard, but Marcus waited and ruffled his hair once Spencer caught up with him. “Good for you, kiddo.”  
  
Spencer wasn’t exactly sure what he meant, but he was happy for the praise nonetheless.  
  
Later that same evening, Spencer was woken up by the sound of someone whimpering from the floor.  “Sam?” Spencer called out once he realized who it had to be.  
  
Crawling out from underneath the sheet that had been covering him. Spencer moved to kneel next to the air mattress that Sam was on. The boys had been getting along so well that they asked if they could share a room until they moved. They’d been taking turns with the bed, and tonight had been Sam’s turn on the air mattress.  
  
“I… I’m sorry,” Sam whimpered as he looked to be trying to curl into a ball. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I was trying to be quiet.”  
  
Biting his lip, Spencer looked down to the hazel eyes that he could just see in the moonlight coming through the window. Making a split-second decision, Spencer ran to the bedroom door and poked his head out. “Uncles, come quick!” Confident that one of the two would hear him, as they always had before, Spencer immediately hurried back to kneel down by Sam.  
  
Poking his tongue out slightly between his lip, Spencer moved to rub on Sam’s left knee the way he remembered his Uncle Marcus doing for him when he’d had his first growth spurt.  “What’s wrong kiddos?” Marcus asked softly coming in and kneeling down beside them. “Hurts, Sam? You should have told us.”  
  
Spencer watched as Marcus turned his head to look back at the doorway, and he guessed that his Uncle Stephen must be standing there. “Steve, baby, can you get the heating pad and some pain medicine? I’m gonna help Li’l Bit with the massaging. You’re doing a great job, kiddo.”  
  
“I’ll get the oil, too,” Stephen mumbled sleepily, and Spencer smirked at his Uncle Marcus. The Guide wasn’t the most alert when first woken up, and sometimes translating his British accent through the sleepy mumble was a talent Spencer still hadn’t mastered.  
  
Spencer turned his attention then to his massaging and let his Uncle Marcus talk quietly to his new friend. He knew from experience how good he was at that. Instead, he let his thoughts wander to how different he felt from just a few days prior when he was sure he was being cast off again. Now, not only did he still have his Uncles, but he also had a new friend that hopefully would be by his side for life.  
  
As the months passed by and the four moved to Palo Alto so that the boys could go to Stanford and Stephen could start his new teaching position there, the two teenagers bonded even further. Plans for the new house were changed slightly as the two boys found they liked sharing a room. So instead, Sam’s room was turned into a small study for the two boys and Spencer’s bedroom was used for sleeping and storage. They bonded over Star Wars and debated things like Scooby Doo Vs. ThunderCats.  
  
Over the years they found that their classes became both diverse and similar. Sam pretty much stuck to his Criminal Justice courses but added Psychology when Spencer picked it up. He then took some anthropology classes for fun, and when Spencer decided that it sounded cool, he took some too. However, Sam had no interest in Spencer’s math, and chemistry and Spencer had no interested in Sam’s Phys Ed classes.  
  
Sam went along on the various family trips to England, as he was already familiar with the Paddingtons from the multiple times Tony visited, or they came to see him. It didn’t take long for those familiar with the situation to see that the bond between Sam and Spencer was going to be as permanent as the one between Dean and Tony, who had gone through the Police Academy together and were currently working for the Peoria PD. No one expected it to last very long there though because most of the cops there weren’t very accepting or understanding of Tony’s situation and most expected the two to move on sooner rather than later.  
  
Like Tony and Dean, as Sam and Spencer grew up and became more aware of their bodies and their sexuality, they would find each other the best options to explore and learn. Also, like the older boys, this would create lifetime bonds that would carry them well past their entries into adulthood. Stephen and Marcus worried at times along the way, but eventually, it was Isabella Paddington, Stephen’s sister-in-law that would advise them that their relationships were their own businesses and no one else's. She would also frankly remind Stephen of all the time he spent sewing his wild oats both before and after he met his Mate. After a while, the two Guardians would settle down and instead of worrying, just try to use their life experiences to guide their charges.  
  
Once Spencer turned eighteen, things would obviously change again, but by then some things would be set in stone, and it would take an opportunity of a lifetime to alter them. Until then, their relationships would be their own, and anyone else’s opinions would be disregarded as irrelevant.

  
  
   
~~*~~*~~* End Flashback ~~*~~*~~*


	5. Getting Answers from the Reluctant

 

Banner by G

  
Spencer slept until the sound of the landing gear lowering woke up. Once awake though, he remained quiet through their arrival at Paddington Castle, until he was forced to speak to greet Tony’s, Uncle George and Aunt Olivia. The older couple were as much his family and Sam’s and Dean’s at that point as they were Tony’s. He knew that his Mate noticed his quietness, but he wasn’t ready to talk yet. The reality of what was really happening had finally hit him, and he was struggling with it all. His brother was alive. The 12-year-old he’d been who refused to believe the falsehoods that he’d been given was right. All these years Alec had been locked in a box inside of his head, and what if he’d let him out before now?  
  
Then on top of that, his extended family could have known the truth but didn’t say anything?  
  
Spencer didn’t know how he felt about that. He was almost certain that Edward knew the truth, or at the very least, like Tony, he suspected what really happened. The fact that Edward then thought it was ok to leave Spencer in the dark was…. Well, he didn’t know what it was. Did Spencer do the right thing by keeping his mouth shut? Or, should he have spoken up? But, if he did say something, then what? It seemed apparent at least to Spencer how his Mate felt.  
  
He didn’t often feel the burning rage through their bond that he felt when Tony heard Gideon say he’d looked for Alec. He wasn’t sure if Tony’s temper was on Spencer’s behalf or if the single encounter that he’d had with Alec had left that much of an impression. Or maybe the truth was some combination of the two, but Tony had been a mere hair’s breadth away from a feral episode. He couldn’t help but wonder if either Rossi or Gideon understood just how close things came to being very, very bad.  
  
So, given his anger at Gideon looking into things, how would he have felt if Edward had done anything that could put Alec’s safety and security in jeopardy? The more he turned the question over, the surer he was in the answer not being a positive one. While it was true that Edward was not just Tony’s favorite of his cousins he was also a very close friend and almost brother, he wasn’t sure that even that bond would have saved the older man from Tony’s wrath.  
  
The only logical conclusion then was that not even Edward could have escaped unharmed had he put Alec’s life in jeopardy by sharing what he either knew or even worse just suspected to be true. How could Spencer then hold the family’s silence against them?  
  
And yet, it was so hard not to be upset that he’d been left in the dark for so long.  
  
He had to wonder though… Uncle Stephen always told him that when he was caught between two choices, that the answer wasn’t always one or the other. Sometimes the answer was neither, and other times it was both. In this situation, maybe the latter was true. Maybe Edward did the right thing by keeping silent about what he either knew or suspected to be true about his friend’s supposed death. At the same time, maybe Spencer had the right to be upset about it even if it was, in fact, the right thing to do.  
  
He was pulled out of his swirling thoughts at the feel of Tony’s hand touching the bare skin of his lower back. Turning his head, he saw his Mate watching him with worried eyes, and did his best to flash a reassuring smile. He didn’t think he did a very good job based on the increased frown on his Sentinel’s face, and the way Sampson appeared and pressed himself against Spencer’s free side. Unconsciously, he dropped his hand to twine his fingers in the massive Spirit Animal’s mane and finally, felt some relief from his anxiety.  
  
Despite the fact that Samson was Tony’s Spirit Guide, it had seemed that since the second Spencer came online, the lion spent as much time with him as it did Tony. For a long time, he’d thought that was just how it went with a pair’s Spirit Animals, but then he noticed that Leonardo didn’t spend nearly as much time with Tony as Sampson did Spencer. He also noticed that other couples didn’t seem to have the same close relationship with their Mate’s Guide as he did.  
  
For a long, while it bothered him that he couldn’t figure out the answer to why that was, but eventually Blair set his mind at ease. He’d merely told Spencer that there was no fixed standard to how Spirit Guides acted, and they would go where they were needed. He had theorized that because of the unique situation surrounding Spencer’s coming online and the age he’d done so, that his Sentinel’s Guide had taken up a role that Tony hadn’t been able to do himself. By the time Tony could, Spencer’s relationship with Sampson had been set, and there had never been a reason to change it.  
  
“Spencer?” He heard, and blinking, forced his mind to focus on the current situation and not daydreaming about the past.  
  
“I’m sorry, Uncle George, I wasn’t paying attention,” he admitted and was thankful when the older man just smiled indulgently. “Did you ask me something?”  
  
“I just wondered if you’d all like to come into the library, and we can talk about whatever has brought you here unexpectedly.”  
  
Spencer tilted his head to one side confused but then realized that Sam and Dean were halfway down the hall looking back at him. Each brother had an arm looped through Aunt Olivia’s who seemed slightly worried.  
  
“Yes, sorry,” Spencer murmured as he bowed his head until he felt Tony’s hand press against his back again drawing his attention away from the floor.  
  
“We can go up to our rooms so that you can lay down, Love,” Tony offered, clearly concerned, but Spencer shook his head negatively.  
  
“No, I need to get this out in the air,” Spencer insisted biting his lip. “I’m sorry. I just… I can’t keep thinking about what if’s and I don’t think it’ll stop until I know for sure about who knew what.”  
  
Tony nodded before pressing a kiss to Spencer’s temple, and the genius took a deep breath before following the others down the hall. He was thankful that the warm touch of his Sentinel didn’t move from his lower back. It was a grounding that Spencer needed for sure to get him through this upcoming talk.  
  
When they walked into the library, he was surprised to see Stephen and Marcus there. “Uncle Stephen, Uncle Marcus, what are you doing here?”  
  
Tony just snorted surprised next to him drawing Spencer’s gaze. “Wow, you really were caught in your head, weren’t you? George covered that a bit ago. They were supposed to leave last night but put off their departure when they found out we were coming. Are you sure you’re ok?”  
  
“I’m fine,” Spencer insisted, and let himself be wrapped up in Tony’s arms knowing that his Sentinel needed his touch as much as he needed Tony’s. “I just can’t help but stop worrying about if we did the right thing by not saying anything all those years ago.”  
  
“Oh, Spence,” Tony sighed as he put both arms around Spencer and pulled him even closer. “We can’t do that. I know it’s hard, but we have to believe that we did the best we could with what we knew at the time. Everything in me says that to keep pressing about what you knew and felt to be true about Alec’s death would only have put him in danger. I feel as strongly about it now as I did then. We’re going to find him, and this time I am not stopping until he’s standing in front of us. You have my word as your Mate.”  
  
Spencer took an unsteady breath and burrowed even further into his Sentinel’s arms before pulling back with a nod. When he looked at the others, he saw both of the other Sentinels in the room, Uncle George, and Uncle Marcus, watching them with concerned frowns on their faces. Before Spencer had to deal with it though, Tony was once more stepping in.  
  
One of the things he loved the most about his Mate was the fact that Tony always seemed to know when Spencer needed to handle a situation, and when Spencer needed Tony to handle it himself as much as he could. “Why don’t we all sit,” Tony suggested as he steered Spencer toward an empty chair and a half that they could curl up together in.  
  
“We have information that we need to share. Is Edward in residence, Uncle? Or is he out on a mission? If he’s close, I’d rather he be here for this. Ashcroft too. Since I am fairly certain at some point, we’re going to end up at MI6.”  
  
George Paddington, the Marquess of Montagu, who along with his wife Olivia had raised Tony, was the head of the Paddington family, and a former Director of MI5. He had been married to Olivia since they were in their twenties. Their son and eldest child, Edward, worked for MI6 in one of their top-secret divisions. Ashcroft Paddington was the youngest son of Uncle Clive. The second eldest Paddington child died a few years back leaving most of his estate to Ashcroft instead of the eldest son Crispin, who was thought to be something of a bad seed by most of the family.  
  
Tony’s mother Claire had been the next of the four Paddington siblings, and then Stephen, who had raised Spencer, was the youngest of the siblings. It was because of his Forever’s close relationship with Stephen that he’d asked his Uncle to be Spencer’s Guardian. When Tony came to England, Edward and Stephen were the two that he was closest to immediately. Tony was the youngest of the three. Edward was three years older than Tony and Stephen was six years older than Tony. When Stephen met Marcus Tony had bonded quickly with the newest Sentinel in the family, and his bond with the Psychiatrist was as strong as the one with the Cousins.  
  
Tony settled down in the chair, and Spencer allowed himself to be pulled down and arranged comfortably on his Sentinel’s lap. He couldn’t help but smile fondly at his Forever and his constant urge to cuddle and have the two of them close together. It was something that they’d had to work around at the BAU. Gideon had been stubborn about it and in the beginning, often tried to separate them declaring that it wasn’t healthy even for an S&G pair. Eventually, Blair and Jim had been forced to step in and have a talk with not only Gideon but Section Chief Strauss and Assistant Director Evans that S&G couples weren’t cookie cutter. You couldn’t fit them all in the same mold and expect it to work.  
  
Looking back, Spencer could see how much Tony had forced himself to tolerate a situation with Gideon and Rossi that may not have been as healthy for him as he deserved. He knew the reason he’d done it was because Spencer wanted to work with and learn from the veteran pair so badly. He had no doubt that they would end up in some other kind of law enforcement or investigative position and was determined that the next one would be a better fit for what Tony need.  
  
Soon after they were settled, Edward came in from some other part of the home. After they exchanged hugs with the man and resettled in the chair, Tony started the explanation. Spencer was just listening at the beginning but would step in when he was ready.  
  
“A few weeks back a man named Ian Doyle came onto our radar thanks to one of our teammates,” Tony started, and Spencer noticed how Edward and George exchanged a look at the name. “I’m not surprised that MI5 & MI6 know who he is. My understanding is that Interpol has been chasing him for quite some time. Emily actually worked with Interpol before moving here and at one point had been undercover in his household working with his son. At the end of the op, Ian was in a foreign prison and believed that his son and his son’s mother were deceased. The problems started when he escaped from prison and learned that his son Declan was alive. Fast forward to a couple days ago, Emily was kidnapped and eventually injured. We were advised that she was dead, and that’s really where everything fell apart.”  
  
Spencer’s hand on Tony’s leg tightened and quickly took over the conversation at this point. He didn’t want to risk Tony becoming angry again when he had to rehash Gideon’s bullshit. “She’s not dead. She’s not any deader than Alec is. When I was a child, I let myself be convinced that I was wrong in what I felt. However, over the years since then, I’ve actually had people I know die, and I can feel the difference between my former boss’ wife when she died, and Emily and Alec. I understand why I was lied to about Alec. I won’t say I’m happy about it, but I do understand. Emily is something different.  
  
“Gideon tried to bullshit us, and it didn’t go over well. Then he announced that he tried to hunt for Alec using his contacts, and things got even worse. In the end, not just Tony and I but also Sam and Dean quit the FBI. We’re hunting for Alec, and when we find him, we’ll settle down where ever he’s at. I just… I need to know who knew that he was still alive.”  
  
“Spencer,” Stephen started immediately but stopped with shock and dismay clear on his face. It was easy to see that his Uncle and Guardian had no clue that Alec wasn’t actually dead. As he watched, Stephen seemed to stop and try to compose himself just as a flash of anger crossed his face. “If there’s anything I can do to either help you find Alec or be reunited with him you have my word that I will do it. I am going to let my new position know that I need a few more days so that we can get this settled.”  
  
Spencer nodded his thanks at turned his eyes to George ignoring the fact that he could tell Tony had his sights focused squarely on Edward. George seemed to be shifting his eyes between Edward and Spencer, but when the youngest in the room looked his way, the family Elder gave him his full attention.  
  
“I assure you that I did not know your brother was alive, Spencer,” the older man promised with a frown. “I cannot tell you what I would have said or thought about it if I had known that you were telling the truth and not just caught up in your upset. I have my suspicions as to what happened but would not be able to speak on them at the moment. I do think though that at the current time it is foolish to continue a charade considering your current circumstances. I would suggest that we speak with M and see what she has to say about the whole deal. At the time your brother died, she was his handler along with Edward’s and another of their co-workers. She would know for certain what happened, and I would guess has some idea where he is at. Edward?”  
  
Spencer turned his sights finally to Tony’s favorite Cousin and noticed the man was standing and looked somewhat agitated. Edward had always leaned toward the more proper side of things, being the future family head, but he was far more relaxed than some in his situation. He’d always thought that Tony had quite a bit to do with that and wasn’t surprised that it was Tony Edward was wholly focused on.  
  
“You knew,” Tony said evenly, and Spencer could feel the turmoil through their bond and the emotions he was hiding underneath the mask.  
  
“I can’t talk about it,” Edward insisted then swore at himself knowing that the refusal was as good as a confirmation for someone as perceptive as Spencer’s Forever was. “I can’t… I have to go. I’ll take care of M. Father, I will let you know when I have her convinced to speak with you.”  
  
Without looking his way, Edward then hurried from the room, and not long after, Spencer saw the flash of the man’s Jag as it sped away from the castle.  
  
“You know he would never have kept a secret that he didn’t have to,” Olivia said, speaking for the first time since Spencer entered the library, and the genius just shrugged.  
  
“I know that,” he promised as he looked at Tony and then stood, pulling his Sentinel up before glancing at Sam and Dean. “I think we’re going to go take a walk in the gardens. Please let us know if you hear something from Edward before we come in?”  
  
George nodded shortly looking concerned. Turmoil amongst family members never set well with the family elder. “Certainly, but knowing how stubborn Olivia is, I don’t expect you will get an agreement for at least a couple days. I will have cook arrange something light for dinner tonight, and then tomorrow she’ll make your favorites. We will do our best, Spencer. No one wants to see this separation continued. Most especially, Edward. No matter how it may seem.”  
  
Nodding his agreement, Spencer led his little group outside so that they could shout and work off some negative energy in the vast expanse of the back of the estate.

  
   
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

   
  
It was three days later that Tony found himself on his way to MI6 along with quite the entourage. Not only were Sam and Dean with himself and Spencer, but Uncle George, as well as Stephen and Marcus, had joined them. They hadn’t seen Edward since he left the day of their arrival abruptly but had been assured that not only he but Ashcroft would be there, also. Ash had also been absent, but it had been explained that he was overseeing something important and hadn’t been able to pull away for a visit.  
  
The time since they’d basically gotten confirmation that Spencer’s feelings were right hadn’t done anything to soothe his anger. While he understood the reasoning, he wasn’t a fan of these people just pretending that what Spencer felt wasn’t happening. How did they not know they had to account for something like that? It was why the whole thing with Emily wouldn’t have worked.  
  
Had they lived in a different world where Sentinels and Guides didn’t exist, of course, the secret would have been much easier to keep. That wasn’t the world they lived in though, and there was no way that Tony and Spencer were the only ones who felt the difference between Haley Hotchner’s death and Emily Prentiss’. In the days they’d been waiting, Tony had talked to Derek who called to both check up on them and also gossip about the things that had gone down in such a short time.  
  
It seemed that Gideon and Rossi both had been pulled in for an emergency evaluation at the S&G Center in Cascade, Washington. Apparently, Blair wanted to personally oversee Gideon’s assessment to make sure that the wily profiler couldn’t work his tricks to fudge the results. AD Evans demanded that Gideon and Rossi be removed from their positions over the team and placed on leave. Jack Garrett was made the new BAU Unit Chief. Jack was a low-level Unbonded Guide who had fallen in love with a mundane woman and had several children whom he adored as a result. Derek had been more than ok with the move admitting that he didn’t feel ready to lead the team yet.  
  
The team had been filled in on the bare bones of the truth of Emily’s situation, and for her safety things were being kept very hush, hush. Derek admitted that Garcia, being a mid-level Guide, had known something was off about what they’d said as she also could still feel something of Emily, and knew if she’d actually been dead those feelings wouldn’t be lingering. Derek, being a higher level Sentinel, had smelled the deceit on both Gideon and Rossi, but had been too caught up in the shock of what happened to process it right away. By the time he had, Tony and Spencer had already quit.  
  
Their spots were already filled, and while the team was upset about that, they understood. Sentinel Matthew Simmons and his Guide Kate Callahan-Simmons were taking Tony and Reid’s spots. The pair had been bonded for three years and were newly married. Derek said that so far, he’d only met Matthew, but knew that he’d been on Jack’s previous team, and the new leader requested he join them when he realized there was an opening. While the team was upset that they’d left so quickly, but they all were going to do their best to stay in touch.  
  
As they headed through the building, Tony’s eyes settled for a moment on Stephen, and not for the first time in the last few days he wondered what his Uncle and friend were up to. One thing he knew for sure was that the older man undoubtedly was plotting something. There had been too many secret calls and more than a few moments where he’d found the older man studying them deep in thought. He had no idea what his Uncle was going to be doing, but from the gleam in his eyes when he talks about it, Tony could tell that it wasn’t one of his usual teaching or dig lead spots. He also had a feeling that Alec being alive had something to do with his Uncle’s secrecy, but since he had no way of being sure, and the fact that he trusted Stephen to tell him when he could, he’d kept his suspicions to himself.  
  
Well, and Spencer.  
  
He shared everything with his Guide and would never keep something like this from him.  
  
When they finally entered a large office, they found an older woman behind a massive desk with Edward behind one shoulder looking a combination of uncomfortable and thoroughly pissed off. Next to him, and behind the woman’s other shoulder, was a man Tony recognized as Edward’s friend James, who had a definite glower of displeasure on his face. Always happy to irritate the man, Tony flashed him a smirk and was delighted to see the man’s eyes narrow. When Spencer poked him in the side with a huff and Edward rolled his eyes, Tony didn’t even feel a little bad.  
  
“Olivia,” he heard George greet and turned his eyes back to the woman as the others mostly settled in chairs. The exceptions were Sam and Dean who headed to settle on either side of the two chairs in front of the desk where they positioned themselves mirroring Edward and James. This time, Edward let out a soft snort as James showed an unimpressed smirk, but Tony wasn’t surprised. James Bond didn’t think much of anyone but himself. That probably wasn’t a fair thought, but he couldn’t help it.  
  
The two had butted heads from the second Edward introduced them, and Tony didn’t ever see that changing. Given that Ed didn’t make a more significant effort to get them onto the same page, he guessed that his Cousin knew it was a lost cause. As Tony headed around Dean, he gave the man a pat on the shoulder and waited for Spencer to settle in the chair next to Sam before he sat down himself. Tony had no idea how this meeting was going to go, but the Sentinel didn’t have much hope that it would go smoothly. He made sure that his Uncles understood that this was his and Spencer’s show and that they were there as a courtesy only.  
  
The days where he needed his Uncles to fight his battles for him was well past. While he required George to make their access to MI6 easier, by no means were they incapable of getting the information they wanted without even stepping foot inside the building. While he wasn’t entirely on Ashcroft’s level, Sam was actually a pretty damned good hacker in his own right, and often Ash used Sam as a way to test improvements in the various security systems of whatever he was working on.  
  
Tony also trusted Dean’s ability, along with his own, to get in and out of anywhere that he needed. However, breaking into or hacking MI6 wasn’t really high on his bucket list, so he appreciated his Uncle George’s presence to get them there, and hopefully keep the woman on the other side of the desk a little in check.  
  
“Good morning,” she greeted. Her hands were folded on the top of the desk, and slightly smug smile seemed to rest easily on her face. “I understand you have some misguided belief that you were misled about the death of one of our agents? 006, I believe?”  
  
Tony saw Spencer frown out of the corner of his eye, and just barely held in a sigh of frustration. He didn’t understand what the fuck it was with these arrogant morons who thought they could circumvent an active bond a Sentinel or Guide had merely because they wished it to not exist. It was both stupid and dangerous, and he really hadn’t wanted to go over this fiasco again.  
  
“If this 006 is my brother, Alec, then yes,” Spencer offered sitting in the chair with his back straight and not even close to resting against the back of the chair. “It isn’t misguided though, it’s a fact. I can feel that he’s alive. We’re here to get whatever information you have on the subject. We all understand security concerns and are happy to sign whatever non-disclosure documents that we need to. I just want to know where my brother is.”  
  
“I am not sure who led you to the mistaken belief that he was still alive,” the woman George called M said calmly, “but that simply isn’t the truth.”  
  
“I can tell you that while he was once part of our organization, he, unfortunately, died some years back in a most unfortunate accident. I regret to have to inform you that it was a situation of his own doing, and at the time he died he was considered a traitor to his country.”  
  
It was only with years of experience in holding in his emotions and hiding them behind a mask that kept Tony’s jaw from dropping open. From the way Edward fidgeted behind her, and the way he could see Ash shift in his seat out of the corner of his eye that neither had agreed with the line of bullshit that they were being fed. While he could see how some level of arrogance might be needed to run an organization like MI6 or even a team as high profile as the BAU, it seemed that both Gideon and this Olivia woman had fallen way too far down the well.  
  
“You do understand that I can feel he’s alive?” Spencer questioned, and Tony could hear the incredulous edge to his words. He hadn’t wanted to take over this meeting, but he’d warned Spencer that if she pulled bullshit anywhere near what Gideon did that he wouldn’t be able to help it. Fortunately, his Guide understood and admitted that he would welcome the help.  
  
“Your feelings are frankly wrong,” she said with a simple shrug. “I would suggest that you get help because the British Government has irreversible proof that he died at the hands of 007 here when he was caught selling out British Operatives.”  
  
Spencer’s mouth opened and then immediately shut before he leaned back in his chair with a small shake of his head. For his part, Tony had always been sitting relaxed in his seat, and only relaxed further as he began to pick invisible lint off of his favorite bespoke suit. There wasn’t often that he fell into his British side. Even as he’d lived in England as a child, he’d kept most of his American ways as he’d always intended to go home someday.  
  
Edward had always said that when Tony went all proper British that people needed to really be scared. Tony always felt that the most valuable thing he’d learned from his Aunt Olivia and his Aunt Isabella was how to tear someone completely to shreds and never once lose his composure.  
  
“Might I have a cuppa?” Tony asked as he brushed his thumb across the back of Spencer’s hand as he looked at the woman they called M within MI6. “I do find myself incredibly parched and could use a good spot of tea.” When Ashcroft choked on air, and Edward flinched, he knew that his Cousins were aware of what was about to happen. It was telling to him though that neither of them moved to interfere.  
  
M narrowed her eyes at him before looking toward Ashcroft. “Q, would you please see to some drinks for our guests?”  
  
As they waited for the tea to arrive, Tony sat calmly watching the woman whose eyes were narrowed as they looked his direction. Not in the least bit intimidated by this woman who was trying her best to hold onto a tired backstory, Tony just looked back at her as the others stayed silent around them. When he’d asked for the tea, he’d heard Dean swear softly, and wanted to smile. His best friend and sometimes bedpartner knew how much Tony loathed tea and much-preferred coffee. It was only when he was feeling homesick or about to tear into someone, politely of course that he indulged in a good cuppa.  
  
Once Q was back and everyone was settled with their tea, Tony took a nice healthy swallow before he resumed the conversation. “In all my years in the Intelligence and Law Enforcement Communities, it never ceases to amuse me at how some feel they’re so much more important than they actually are. They clutch their little secrets to their chests as if they make them bulletproof or irreplaceable. I do rather find it pathetic, to be honest, because let’s face the facts, my dear, shall we? There’s only one Queen in this country, and my dear Olivia, you are not it.”  
  
Tony heard someone choke on their tea behind him but forced himself to stay focused on his task. He paused just long enough for M to start to respond before he cut her off to continue. “And really, she’s quite the lovely creature, the Queen. I do always enjoy spending time with her when I visit. She’s actually quite funny and charming. I am quite curious as to your insistence on carrying about this charade because I was assured just yesterday as we met at tea time that we would have your fullest cooperation in this matter. She’s acutely aware of the years my family has served this country and the sacrifices that we made for it. When I left to go back to the States for schooling, she was rather supportive, and assure me that she would have no patience for anyone who would try to use it against me.  
  
“No, I am afraid that having met the Queen, I must insist that you cease in your pathetic attempts in portraying yourself as something more than you are, especially in the face of overwhelming evidence to counter your claims. The Queen is a wonderful woman that deserves her subjects to put their lives on the line for her. You, Olivia, are not the Queen and thus far I cannot see that you deserve any such honor. Your little lap dog there behind you certainly doesn’t deserve such regal protection. After all, he is in some way responsible for this whole mess, is he not? And, I’m curious. How exactly is it that you know Jason Gideon? What exactly is the end game in the little competition you two have going on here with Spencer and his brother? Really, my dear, you can speak up at any time, or have you lost your ability to talk when faced with people who won’t just blindly follow along with your arrogant arseholery?”  
  
“How dare you,” M seethed, but Tony once more cut her off gleefully. He could see behind her that James was itching to intercede, and Tony almost hoped that he would. He’d love to watch either Dean or Sam kick his ass.  
  
“Oh, my dear, I think that you’ll find that I dare a good many things, but this isn’t even a challenge,” Tony countered smiling sharply. Beside him, he could see in his peripheral vision that Spencer was watching her calmly, but Ashcroft’s teacup had been hovering in front of his mouth far too long for him to be actually drinking.  
  
“I don’t know why you think you deserve some kind of respect from anyone when you foolishly think that your will alone will negate unchallengeable facts. In case though that you are confused, please do allow me to lay out those facts for you. Fact: Alec Trevelyan, formerly known apparently as 006, is alive somewhere on this planet that we call earth. Fact: When my Guide, my Mate, my entire life was twelve years old his brother was gravely injured. You as his handler decided on some farce that would label Alec as both deceased and a traitor to cover some most likely reckless impulse that your little lap dog is responsible for that most likely made the prior plan impossible. I do hope that the previous version of whatever was to happen was much better thought out than this “if I just insist long enough surely they’ll believe me” notion of yours. It did not work well for Jason Gideon, and my dear, I can assure you that it won’t work well for you.  
  
“I have been assured, that should you not be as agreeable and helpful as you should be that her Majesty is prepared to see to it that you are replaced with someone much more suitable to your position. I do believe that Gareth Mallory’s name was mentioned as well as Clyde Easter from Interpol. That last one was one I threw out I will admit. I don’t know Mallory well, but in having worked with Clyde recently, I can tell you that he doesn’t put up with a lot of bullshit. Even from his favorites. Now, was there anything that you shared with us previously that you would like to take back and change, Olivia dear?”  
  
As he sat and watched M, Tony was a little afraid that her head was going to just pop off of her neck as red as it was. He was reasonably sure that the woman wasn’t used to her word being countered or having to deal with someone who had both the ability and the will to call her on her nonsense. Frankly, Tony had nothing to lose by putting his cards on the table. There was nothing that he’d said that was exaggerated, which made the whole thing even better. He was fairly confident that no matter what happened here two things would most definitely be happening after this meeting. M would be replaced, most likely by Clyde Easter, and Tony and Spencer would be leaving MI6 with the location of Alec Trevelyan.  
  
It was just a question of this woman being intelligent enough to see the writing on the wall in front of her.  
  
“You don’t have nearly enough influence to pull off what you’re threatening,” M spat back angrily, “and I can’t imagine her Majesty dirtying herself by having tea with the son of a murderer.”  
  
“He may not, but I do,” George reminded as he spoke for the first time. They’d agreed that should M try and throw her weight around, and George felt he needed to defend his family that he could do so. “As you well know she’s consulted me on all appointments to MI5 and MI6 since I left active service, including yours Olivia. Given that my family has served hers going back literally a thousand years in one form or another, I can assure you that my words do hold sway with her. I agreed with my Nephew’s assessment of Clyde, and I am fairly sure that he’ll be selected as your replacement. It will certainly be a change for some, but I am sure in the end it will be for the better of everyone.”  
  
Tony didn’t even try to hide the smirk he was directing at the irritating blond, who was most definitely who George was referring to. From what he’d interpreted from Edward’s rants when he was too far into his cups and felt safe with Tony to unleash, James needed reminding that what the 00 was doing was supposed to be secret, and not something that ended up on the evening news of whatever country he was in. Tony could tell from the way the other man’s face practically turned to stone that he knew it.  
  
“As to her Highness not wanting to dirty herself with him because of the actions of Anthony, Senior well, that’s just rubbish.” George continued undoubtedly ignoring the byplay going on between Tony and Bond.  
  
“The truth is that she is rather fond of Tony because he’s lifted himself up out of the rubbish his father left of his life. The fact that his father killed his mother and tried to kill him certainly should have no reflection on Tony. At least not to any decent human being, and certainly not someone who holds your position, Olivia. I am rather appalled that you look down on a victim such as Tony was or hold any child accountable for the actions of their parent. Now, why don’t we end this nonsense, and you just tell us what we need to know. I would much rather prefer that than to have to order you removed from this office now, and have the information gathered. Do not fool yourself into thinking that I cannot and will not do either though if you force me.”  
  
Tony stayed outwardly calm when M turned her glower back in his direction. He didn’t know what the woman had against him, well before he deliberately tried to piss her off that is, but frankly, he didn’t care. All he wanted was answers, and honestly, he didn’t care one bit what happened to MI6 or Olivia as a result.  
  
“Alec Trevelyan was targeted by a Russian Crime Organization after they saw him during an operation he was on. Apparently, they knew his birth father, and Alec looks startlingly like the man. They assumed that Alec was cut from the same ill cloth that his father was, and we decided to take advantage of it so that we could gain information on their activities. When they realized that he was not loyal to them, they put out a hit on him. Because they were targeting his real identity, we had to take drastic measures. The plan was for him to go into hiding with Spencer, but the orders got... Confused and James thought Alec had indeed turned to the other side. It was merely an accident that got 006 hurt, and James regrets his actions. At that point, we decided the best thing we could do was to report Alec as deceased. It was really best for everyone.  
  
“Last I heard, Alec was working with the Americans at one of their Air Force bases at Cheyenne Mountain. I know nothing more than that though. The actual facts of his assignment were classified above my security clearance.”  
  
“Best for everyone, or best for James?” Tony sneered dropping his polite façade. Behind him, he’d heard Stephen murmur a “bloody fucking hell” when Cheyenne Mountain was mentioned and filed that away in his mind to investigate later.  
  
When he felt the weight of Dean’s hand on his shoulder, he paused a moment before continuing. “As for Alec being hurt being an accident and James being simply confused, well as us American’s say so crudely, I call bullshit. Edward, I am sorry for this, but Uncle George, I really must insist that James be barred from the family home from this point out. I don’t feel that the family is safe around him if he’s so easily… confused. There are often children present, and who knows when his confusion will endanger them.”  
  
Tony saw James take a step forward, but as Tony quickly stood as a response, Edward grabbed his friend’s arm. “It’s alright, Tony. All things considered, I think it would be best for everyone if there were some space between James and the family for a while.”  
  
When Edward’s eyes flicked to Ashcroft, Tony flinched slightly and turned to look at his younger cousin, who was obviously hiding some great pain behind the mask he wore called Q. “I would agree, Edward,” Ash finally offered as he set his cup down on the table in front of him. “If you would all excuse me, 004 is on a mission that I need to check in on. I do believe that he’s almost done. Once I have him safely on his way home, I will be coming out to spend some time with the family at the estate. I should be there in time for dinner. I do hope to see you before you leave Tony, as well as the rest of you.”  
  
“Of course, Ash,” Tony offered quietly as he watched him leave. Inwardly, he cursed himself for forgetting about Ash’s crush that was possibly more than that for the irritating Bond. When he felt Spencer’s hand curl into his, Tony took a deep breath and pulled himself back to the present. “I think we have everything that we came here for then. Uncle George?”  
  
“Yes, I do believe it’s time that we take our leave,” the Paddington elder confirmed, and without speaking further, Tony followed him out of the room gaining comfort from the warmth of his Guide’s hand in his. It would take awhile to get over his guilt of having hurt Ashcroft, and by the time he got home, he would be wondering if there was any way to work their youngest genius into whatever scheme that Stephen had going on.  
  
Tony thought that just maybe distance would be good for Ash.  
  
Whatever could they have going on at NORAD that required a former British spy though? The location to where Alec was definitely created more questions than it answered, but Tony finally felt like they were on track to solve all of the riddles.

 


	6. The Secret is in the Stars

 

Banner by G

 

 

It was later the same day, and Tony was sitting in the library once more saying goodnight to his Aunt Olivia who was excusing herself to go up to her bedroom to read. She knew that they wanted to talk business that she didn’t have the clearance for, and Tony couldn’t help but wonder what that meant. His Aunt had a pretty high clearance herself as she’d helped her husband a time or two over the years. She was an asset when they met, and as George progressed up the ranks through the years, her security clearance was increased along with his. It definitely made things easier for them not having to keep so many secrets, but more than that his Aunt had a keen insight that had helped catch more than one target.  
  
Tony had been mostly quiet since dinner was over and had spent most of the time they’d been in the library observing the others. He’d noticed that since they left MI6 Ashcroft, Stephen, and Marcus had spent time in various combinations separating from the rest of them and whispering about things. It was hard to keep secrets in a house with Sentinels in it, even one the size of Paddington Castle. However, there had always been a house rule that the Sentinels in residence were to keep their hearing lowered to that of an ordinary person as much as possible.  
  
Tony noticed that quite often after these talks, Ashcroft came back red-eyed and emotional. At the moment, he was sitting on the couch with Sam, and no one had mentioned the way the two were holding hands and had been ever since they’d left London. There had been quite a lively discussion about James when they first returned, and Tony was still more than a little miffed at his Cousin’s insistence on defending the man. He’d overheard Edward tell George that he’d be moving into one of the family townhomes in London and moving in there with James so as not to upset the family. Tony had been upset that he was separating himself from the family for James’ sake, and while he’d tried to hold back most of his ire, a conversation followed that Tony still was sure he hadn’t gotten the full truth in.  
  
It was what began the whispered conversations between the trio, and Tony’s mind had been trying to process what was going on ever since. While Tony knew that James had been Edward’s friend for quite some time, nothing had ever been more critical to his Cousin and friend than his family. So, he didn’t understand what could possibly be so important about James to draw him away from…. Oh.  
  
As the lightbulb clicked on inside Tony’s head, he didn’t realize that he’d stood up from where he was seated in the chair and a half with Spencer again. “Tony?” George queried, but Tony didn’t respond. Instead, he headed straight for Edward who was watching in a little wide-eyed.  
  
“Fuck, Eddie,” Tony said just before he threw his arms around his slightly startled older Cousin. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have said anything if you didn’t want me to. Jesus!”  
  
“You figured it out,” Edward sighed, and Tony felt the man almost deflate as he returned the hug. “I just, I didn’t want to upset Ash. He’s had an infatuation with him for years. I didn’t want to upset him.”  
  
“So instead you tortured yourself by keeping yourself separated from your Guide all these years? God, Eddie. Is there anything that I can do?” Tony asked as he pulled back slightly and was worried at how exhausted his Cousin looked. “The last thing I wanted this morning was to separate you from the family!”  
  
“No,” Edward returned immediately as he looked his way. “I know that. It never crossed my mind that you’d want such a thing. It was a good idea nonetheless to keep him away. Everyone needs some time to heal from what he did. James has a lot of things that he needs to address. I think all of these years he’s pushed a lot of things down and just suppressed the pain instead of addressing them. Starting with his parents’ deaths. I think it’s part of the reason why he does most of what he does. I just hope that he hasn’t permanently damaged himself.”  
  
“Well, if you need Blair just say the word,” Tony demanded as he took a deep breath. “I know that he’ll come help if I ask him to, and he’s had the security clearance for years so that you both could be open and not have to talk around things. It wouldn’t be the first time that he helped a Sentinel or Guide who held a sensitive position.”  
  
“Thank you,” Edward agreed, and Tony watched his eyes travel to Ash and back. “Promise that you’ll take care of him? I know that Sam will be good for him, but I worry. He’s never been so far from the family before.”  
  
“You have my word,” Tony swore before he crossed back to the chair and got settled again. Looking at Stephen, he decided it was time that he nudged this thing along. “So, can you tell us what you’ve been whispering about, yet? I know it wasn’t all about James.”  
  
He watched as Stephen turned his head and looked to Marcus before nodding and setting down his drink on the side table. “Yes, I suppose that I should get things out in the open. I am rather running out of time and cannot put off my leave much longer. Since I am hoping to take quite a few of you back with me, it would seem prudent to explain to you what is going on. I know that you’ve been aware that something was going on since almost the start, Anthony, and I do appreciate your patience. I know it is not your strong point.”  
  
Tony gave a playful huff at his Uncle’s teasing and gave the appropriate grouching. Quickly though, Stephen grew serious again and began his tale. “You see, some number of years ago, I agreed to do an excavation in Egypt of the big pyramids with a Dr. Daniel Jackson and a Dr. Catherine Langford. They’d been trying to unravel a puzzle for quite some time and were hoping that my expertise could help them. I, unfortunately, am not able to be completely honest with you. That will come if you accept the offer I have for the lot of you. I can tell you though that it led to a larger discovery that I have been mostly on the outskirts of ever since. Because I felt like my family commitments were more important, I have to this point, not been able to get as involved as I would like. We’ve also taken in a number of children over the years temporarily, other than Spencer, but we recently decided that we didn’t want to do that any longer. This is something that Marcus and I both wish to do and need to make the time before we are too old to qualify.”  
  
“This have something to do with why the fucking Air Force would have a base under a mountain that houses NORAD?” Dean asked making it clear how much sense whatever story he’d uncovered didn’t make. “Deep space telemetry my ass.”  
  
Next, to Tony, Spencer just snickered, and Tony couldn’t help but flash a smile at his Guide and give him a quick peck on the cheek.  
  
“I do believe that it has been said that it is the worse cover story in history,” Stephen conceded with a smile, “but yes.”  
  
“That is what this is about. My superior there told me that they had something one of our charges had been looking for but refused to say anything more than that. It never even crossed my mind that it could be Alec until Spencer revealed that he’s truly alive. Even then, it was just a possibility added to a list of other possibilities. Spencer, I never would have withheld that information from you.”  
  
“I know,” Spencer offered back, and Tony could feel through their bond that he meant it.  
  
“As soon as M mentioned Alec’s name I knew that he was whom Jack has been referring to, the bloody arse,” Stephen gripped and got a peck of his own from Marcus. “As soon as we got back here, I made some calls. I’ve never used my influence on the project until now, but I decided that now was the time. Especially considering the fact that all of you fit roles that they desperately need filled.”  
  
“By the Air Force in a base underneath a mountain doing Deep Space Telemetry,” Dean pointed out sarcastically, and everyone chuckled as Stephen gave him a playful sigh.  
  
“Yes, Elder Winchester, I know. It’s a bloody horrible cover story. I get it, but it’s what I have, at the moment. So, do be a dear and shut the hell up.”  
  
Dean gave a snort along with a playful salute before Stephen turned back to the conversation at hand. “They are holding our arrival for whenever we wrap things up here, which I do believe that we have done. I would like to get out of England before Olivia decides to do something rather rash.”  
  
George sighed and spoke after taking a drink of his scotch. “I would like to say that it is not something that she would do. However, the woman has always been rather bloodthirsty when crossed. Edward, do we need to worry about James doing something rash?”  
  
Edward quickly shook his head as he stood. “No, because I am going to get him out of the country for a while. Father, can you let whoever know who will be taking over until they can put Clyde in place that we will be on leave until things are settled between us, and James is somewhat better?”  
  
George smiled playfully at his son. “Consider him told. The Queen asked that I oversee things for a month or two. Clyde needed time to wrap up a few things. Stay in touch while you are gone, and that goes for all of you. I may not be related to you all, but I do expect regular correspondence from every one of you. You may not have Paddington blood in your veins, but you are all Paddingtons at heart and are expected to be treated as such. I may be in my eighties, but I will not hesitate to come and kick someone’s arse if you are not being handled appropriately.”  
  
George then said his good nights before retiring, and the rest of them decided to settle in the game room for some pool or video games to work off some of their lingering frustrations, minus Edward who headed off to wrangle James. The rest of them would be departing the next day to begin the next phase of their lives.  
  
They were sitting on Tony’s first and hopefully, last Military Transport flight headed toward Peterson Air Force Base since obviously, they couldn’t fly into Cheyenne directly. One thing that he knew for sure was that hopefully, he would never have to do this again. It was loud. It was uncomfortable. It was mostly hell, and he had detested every minute of it so far. He was bored out of his skull. It was too loud to sleep. It was really too loud to do anything, and seriously… It was uncomfortable.  
  
Feeling Spencer’s shoulder touch his, he turned his head to see his Mate watching him with a sympathetic smile. Glad that he at least had Spencer with him, Tony leaned over and gave his Guide a kiss on the cheek before closing his eyes to try and get some more rest, or at least calm his thoughts. He found himself thinking about Spencer and from there his thoughts slid into his 18th birthday. Everything had truly changed at that point, but at the same time in some ways, it hadn’t.  
  
Right from the start, Tony was completely attached to the young genius, and helpless to do anything other than precisely what his Guide wanted and needed. When Spencer first came online and pulled Tony into the Spirit Plane, the Sentinel found himself wanting to protect his Guide as he would a child in pain. It wasn’t so much a physical injury that you could put a cast on or stitch back together and slap a bandage on though. While that would have been bad, in some ways, it would have been much easier if that was the only injury they’d had to hear.  
  
No, instead, there had been mental injuries that had been inflicted on his Mate and not just any psychological injury. No, it had to be one that Tony himself was intimately familiar with. There weren’t many things in life that could leave the permanent scars that the betrayal of a parent could. While his mother could be forgiven for her part in the young boy’s neglect and inadequate upbringing, it was really his father’s abandonment that had done the most damage. How he could leave a young boy like Spencer alone to care for a mentally ill mother, was beyond Tony, and he had a scoundrel father of his own that left deep scars on Tony’s psyche.  
  
So, the minute he laid eyes on the youth, he swore to himself that as his Sentinel he would always do everything he could to protect his Mate. Leaving Spencer that first day had been hard, but Tony was determined not to take any more of Spencer’s control away from him. His life had been in enough of an upheaval than to have to deal with someone forcing themselves into his life when it wasn’t wanted. As he’d walked out of that room, Tony knew things were going to go badly for him, but even if he could change things he wouldn’t make a single alteration.  
  
When Alec was reported as dead, there was no question in Tony’s mind that he’d go to Spencer. If his Guide was calling for him, after refusing to even speak his name for nearly two years, then he was going to get there. Dean’s presence in Tony’s life had been hard for the young boy to understand at first, but Spencer was a lot smarter than most and unfortunately been taught to grasp grownup concepts long before he should have. By the time the visit ended, and they’d needed to go back to Columbus, things between himself and Spencer had settled more into what Tony had hoped for when he realized he was going to have an underaged Mate.  
  
There were daily calls and letters were exchanged. Spencer found that he liked writing letters, and Tony did his best to reply to every one of them. Marcus and Stephen would often bring pictures for him when they came to visit, but Tony had still been surprised by the change in his Mate when he finally laid eyes on him that day of his 18th birthday.  
  
At the time, Tony and Dean were working for Boston PD. Spencer and Sam wanted to switch to MIT, and the older boys had no real opinion on where they went next. They just wanted the four of them to be together once they could be. The whole connection between the four of them was unique and not one that they’d ever been able to explain to anyone. Tony remembered being completely anxious over the idea of how Spencer would take Dean’s place in his life. The oldest Winchester brother had become so ingrained in Tony’s wellbeing that he knew there was no way he could let him go.  
  
Relationships with multiple people were tricky for people more mature than any of them had been at the time, or at least that was what those much older than the four of them kept saying. Tony just knew that he had to try. He couldn’t live without Spencer any longer, and he wasn’t sure he could survive without that connection to Dean that he’d come to depend on.  
  
He remembered sitting in a fancy hotel suite that he’d booked for the weekend waiting for his Guide to arrive. Despite the fact that he knew Spencer and knew what the younger boy looked like, it somehow still felt like a blind date or some weird arranged marriage. The young man that walked into the room stole his breath, and Tony found himself struggling with the reality that the kid that he’d been holding himself back from for 8 long years was now a man. He’d expected that…. Well, he wasn’t sure what he expected.  
  
Maybe that some magical switch would flip in his head that signaled Spencer had become a grownup and it was ok to have an adult relationship with him. Unfortunately, it hadn’t worked that way, and there had been about 12 hours of tears and frustration on both of their parts as they tried to get Tony past his mental block that his Mate was a child.  
  
Spencer knew why Tony had such an aversion. Tony made sure that Marcus told him after he left that visit when Alec was reported dead. He’d never heard it from Tony though, and somehow it seemed that hearing the words in combination with feeling Tony’s fear and self-loathing at just the idea of what could have happened made all the difference.  
  
In a similar vein, Tony knew that Spencer was mad at him for having to leave, but knowing and feeling how betrayed his Mate had felt were two different things. By the time they’d reached a 12-hour mark, Tony had cried. Spencer had cried, and they’d somehow managed to agree that maybe they still needed to take things slow. As much as they knew about each other, they were still strangers in many other ways. So, while they managed to move their bond from the Platonic one they’d lived with for so long into something more traditional by the end of the weekend, it still had been almost a year before Tony felt comfortable with the idea of penetrative sex with his Guide.  
  
When the subject of Dean came up though, Tony had been flabbergasted by how accepting Spencer was of the notion. In fact, it had been he who initiated the conversation by saying that he’d been in something of a relationship with Sam for a few years and didn’t want to give it up. Eventually, an agreement was worked out where Tony and Dean could continue on as they had been, and the same for Spencer and Sam. Both Winchester brothers had already determined that any Mates they would find someday would have to be willing to accept their existing relationships with Tony and Spencer.  
  
It wasn’t an open relationship, and it certainly wasn’t a foursome. Tony never saw Sam as anything but a little brother. Spencer never had any kind of longing for Dean, and eventually saw him as a pseudo-brother type person. Dean and Sam certainly didn’t ever have anything beyond a brother type bond. It was just that in addition to it being Tony & Spencer there was a Tony & Dean and a Spencer & Sam. It worked for them and continued to work despite how everyone insisted that someday it would all blow up in their faces.  
  
It was a little amusing to Tony that Sam seemed to have found a Mate in his Cousin Ashcroft and couldn’t help but wonder why now and not any of the other times the two had met. It also amused him that Ashcroft immediately informed Sam that he was more than open to having Spencer in their bed because he wasn’t nearly the stick in the mud some of his other family members thought he should be. While some of the family had been worried, Marcus had spoken up quickly and made it clear that there was nothing unhealthy going on with the arrangement.  
  
“They’re all mature adults who know what they want and need,” his Uncle who was a psychologist had declared. “Relationships come in all kinds of sizes and forms. There are no power imbalances there. There are no manipulation or other negative tactics being used. While Ashcroft is, in my opinion, upset about recent events, he isn’t in an emotionally compromised state. Stephen and I are going to be around almost every day if something changes or someone just needs space to think. In my professional opinion, the rest of us need to butt the fuck out and let them be.”  
  
While a part of Tony had to wonder how much the pain of James’ actions was affecting Ashcroft’s decision to leave everything he knew, he and Spencer agreed not to judge. If something changed in the future, then they’d deal with it at that time. He couldn’t help but feel a little bad for Dean, who was the only one left without a mate of his own, and Tony sincerely hoped that his friend wouldn’t have to be alone much longer. He did have a talk with Ash who insisted that the bond with Sam was real and while he didn’t understand why it hadn’t come up before, he was wholly invested in it. As far as Tony was concerned that was all he needed to hear.  
  
While their lives were going to be chaotic for a while as they all got resettled into their new arrangements, Tony found that he was looking forward to the new arrangement and finding out who Dean’s Sentinel would be.  
  
Tony was walking next to their escort listening to the young airman talked about the base with Spencer at his other side, and the rest scattered somewhere behind them. They were headed toward a set of elevators that were to take them up to the conference rooms where they’d meet the two men in charge of the base. They would also meet another new base member who had just come out of bonding and still needed to go through orientation.  
  
They were standing near the elevators and joking around with Tony trying to figure out why he was feeling someone familiar. He was finding it hard to acclimate his senses to the new environment and wasn’t trusting anything he was sensing at the moment. Spencer had, thus far, been forced to keep in physical contact with him, because the layers of mountain, concrete, and steel were causing a weird muting sensation that he wasn’t used to. Because of this, his attention was less on the conversations around him, and more focused on continually scanning the surrounding area for threats. It was because of this, he figured, that he was the first to see the trio coming around the corner to join them at the elevator.  
  
When Aaron Hotchner left, Spencer had been devastated, and Tony had only barely resisted the urge to hunt the traumatized Sentinel down and beat some sense into him. While he had sympathy over what the older man must have gone through at his ex-wife’s death, he didn’t think that isolating yourself from the rest of the people who loved you was the answer. He certainly didn’t appreciate Aaron adding to Spencer’s abandonment issues.  
  
Maybe, had his anger not been burning so close to the surface for so many days, Tony would have reacted differently. Perhaps, had it just been Aaron and his Guide things also would have been different. However, the sight of Aaron unexpectedly there in Cheyenne Mountain with Alec Trevelyan was enough to send Tony’s temper spiking again. Then when you add Spencer’s burst of surprise and pain through the bond, there was very little chance that things were going to be settled without Tony getting in at least one good punch.  
  
“Spencer?” He heard Hotch question just after Alec muttered a “fuck me” from his spot behind Aaron and a man Tony didn’t know.  
  
He was pretty sure that if the situation was different that he’d never be able to sneak up on Aaron. But, in the chaos of the moment, no one realized just how volatile the moment had become quickly enough. Later, Tony would find out that everyone’s first sign that something was off was Sampson’s low grumble being directed toward Harrison who echoed it with a warning growl of his own at the larger Spirit Animal. Tony had never gone feral and didn’t quite get there in that moment. It was close enough though that he hoped he never got pushed that far again.  
  
All he could see in that moment was a haze of red and the sight of someone who had hurt his Mate within his sights. “You fucking bastard!” Tony snarled before winding up and throwing a punch that caught Aaron just underneath his chin.  
  
Before he could go further though, both Dean and the airman were on him holding his arms and pulling him away before he could attack again. As he found himself pressed against the cement wall of the base, chaos broke out behind him with everyone seemingly yelling at everyone else. Sampson was roaring loudly at Harrison who was snarling angrily standing over his Sentinel.  
  
When Tony finally calmed down enough that he could think, Stephen was talking quietly to him in an attempt to help him settle. However, the lack of Reid at his side was only hindering that process. “Spencer,” Tony ground out and struggled to try to turn and see something other than the concrete wall.  
  
“No, you don’t,” the airman spat fighting to hold him in place.  
  
“That’s not helping!” Stephen insisted, and Tony guessed that he was directing the comment toward the airman, although it seemed that there were other people who had joined them. “He needs to see his Mate and what’s going on. He was only trying to protect his Guide!”  
  
“His Guide wasn’t in danger,” the airman argued back, and Tony could feel the man’s arm pressed into the back of his neck. “He attacked Doc’s Sentinel first! No way is he getting a chance at doing that again.”  
  
“It’s not quite that simple, airman,” Tony heard Aaron mutter, and once more he struggled to turn not liking having his back open to attack, and not being able to finish calming until he felt safe again. And where was his Guide!  
  
“Spencer!” Tony called out, growing anxious that his Mate wasn’t at his side.  
  
“Let him go, airman,” he heard a voice order just as he finally heard Spencer’s voice.  
  
“I’m here, Tony,” Spencer promised, and as soon as the airman let him go, Tony turned around. Seeing his Mate close, he pulled him into his arms and then behind him until he could determine what was going on. “It’s ok, my Forever. I’m not in danger. Aaron’s sorry he was an asshole. I was just…. Tony, it’s Alec.”  
  
Tony’s eyes scanned the narrow corridor and found the older brother in question standing nearby and looking somehow pleased. Tony wasn’t sure if he was pleased with the punch or the fact that his little brother’s Mate was so protective of him, but at least he didn’t seem to be mad. Dean was standing close by with Sam. Q and Marcus just a bit beyond where the eldest Winchester was.  
  
Aaron was on the floor being looked at by what appeared to be a petite dark-haired doctor with a blond man with glasses hovering protectively next to him. There seemed to be two Air Force commanding officers and another short blond man that had joined the crowd.  
  
“I promise, I’m fine, Doctor Frasier,” Aaron insisted from the floor, and Tony’s eyes immediately flew to him, and he couldn’t help but tense slightly. “Jack, General Hammond, please. This is…. Well, let’s just say I deserved it. Even so, I’m guessing that something else must have happened. Tony has always been extremely protective of Spencer, but even for him, there has to be an extenuating circumstance. I am sure that seeing me with Spencer’s older brother that they both though dead didn’t help. I didn’t black out. Just… Just give me an ice pack for my jaw and let’s get to the meeting. Tony won’t lash out again. I trust him.”  
  
As Tony watched the two men, who appeared to be in charge turned and came his way. “Is he right, son? Can we trust you to not lash out again? Or is there some deeper situation with you and Sentinel Hotchner that we need to be made aware of?”  
  
Tony tried to calm down enough to reply, but Samson’s agitated prowling was a sign of how much he was still struggling. He felt Spencer rest his forehead against the bare skin of Tony’s neck as his hands slipped underneath his shirt to curl around and relax on his chest. Closing his eyes, he tried to sift through the many layers of emotions he was feeling at the moment to find the one that was preventing him from settling down. It took longer than he’d like, but eventually, he realized that it was Spencer’s emotional state overseeing his brother that was hindering things.  
  
“I think Spencer and I need a few moments with Alec, sir,” Tony offered, trying to keep as much of the growl out of his voice as possible. “I think once they’re settled then I’ll be able to do so as well. Maybe in the meantime, Aaron should go to whatever clinic you have here on base and get checked out. He could have hit his head on the floor when he fell.”  
  
“Jesus you’re a brat,” Aaron murmured, but Tony didn’t feel even a little bit bad. An unwanted exam was the least of what he owed them for just disappearing on Spencer. “I agree, General Hammond. Tony’s incredibly tuned into his Guide’s emotional state at all times. My guess is until Spencer can have a proper reunion with his brother, that Tony won’t be able to fully calm down. While they’re doing that, I’ll let Dr. Frasier check me out, so Daniel can relax, and then in say half an hour we can all try this again?”  
  
Tony watched as the shorter and balder of the two Air Force Commanders seemed to judge the situation before nodding. “That sounds reasonable. I know from what Dr. Paddington told us they’ve been having some problems, which is what delayed their arrival. I am willing to trust that this won’t be a regular occurrence this time. Let’s take a 30-minute break. Airman Connor, you’re excused. Alec can get them to the conference room. 30 minutes, people!”  
  
When the airman walked off after shooting him one last dirty look, Tony took a deep breath, and after giving Stephen a promise to behave, headed off with Spencer after Alec for some privacy. The two brothers deserved a private reunion, and they were going to get it.  
  
 

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

  
   
  
As Spencer followed Alec down the hallway away from the elevators, he was glad to have the weight of Tony’s touch on the bare skin on the back of his neck. He wasn’t entirely confident that without it that he wouldn’t completely fall apart. He was embarrassed at having ignored the needs of his Sentinel and was going to have to apologize to his Forever later when they were alone. He knew that Tony would say they were extenuating circumstances, but as far as Spencer was concerned, his Sentinel and Mate should always be his top priority.  
  
As they headed into what appeared to be an empty office that Alec ducked into, Spencer felt Tony place a kiss on his left temple before he moved around where Spencer and Alec had stopped to seemingly stare at each other. Spencer watched his Sentinel settle himself behind a desk that had been abandoned in the room, and then turn the chair so that his back was to them. Spencer guessed it was to give the brothers as much privacy as he could.  
  
Appreciating the thought, he turned his attention to his brother who was watching him like a hawk. There had been a long hug in the hall while Tony was being restrained from going at Aaron again, but Spencer felt the need for another. If being with Tony had helped Spencer do anything, it was to get over his aversion to being touched. It still wasn’t his favorite thing from a stranger, but with those he loved and knew loved him in return, he was much more open to hugging and cuddling and other various signs of affection. So, without thinking further, he gave into his impulse and headed to Alec happy when the older man wrapped his arms around him.  
  
“I have missed you Gattino,” Alec said with his voice thick with emotion. “Waking up and finding out that I had to leave you behind was the worst thing I have ever had to do. The only thing that made it bearable was to know that your Forever had done his best for you and that his Uncles would continue to keep you safe. I never would have left you behind given the option. I swear on my favorite lighter.”  
  
Spencer felt a bark of laughter escape between the tears that he was pretending he wasn’t crying and used Alec’s shirt to wipe them from his face getting a huff of annoyance from his big brother. “You and that lighter.”  
  
“I cherish that lighter,” Alec insisted and pulled back slightly. Although he wasn’t quite ready to let go. Spencer allowed it and was somewhat amazed to see his brother pull the object in question out of his pocket. “You got me this lighter. I have not been without it at any time since we have been separated. Even when I shower, it sits within my sight so I can see it if I need. I promised myself that I would find a way for us to be reunited. When I got here to Stargate Command, I knew that this was the perfect place for us to come together again. I’ve been bugging Colonel Jack non-stop to get you and your Forever into the program so that I could see you again.”  
  
“I wish I knew,” Spencer moaned softly as he reached out and took his brother’s hand needing some kind of contact. “I would have come so much sooner had I known that you were here. Had I even known that you were alive. I mean, I did know mostly, but we were so afraid of putting you in danger. Or at least, Tony was. He recognized what must have happened right away and told me to put you in a box and not speak of what I knew again. He was so angry when he found out my old boss had tried to find you.”  
  
“Jason Gideon,” Alec sneered angrily, and Spencer watched him run a hand through his blond locks that were slicked back in the way Spencer remembered him wearing as a child. “I disliked that man before he tried to find me, and I dislike him even more now. As much as I wish otherwise, the danger has not passed. My enemies will search for me until the day they die. All he accomplished by trying to find me was to renew their belief that James did not actually kill me.”  
  
Spencer heard a growl at the sound of Bond’s name and was surprised when he realized that it came from him. When he felt the weight of Sampson pressing against his leg, he dropped a hand to the Spirit Animals mane getting a chuff of pleasure in return. “Bond,” Spencer spat angrily and huffed again at Alec’s smirk.  
  
“As much as I have always thought you just a Little Bit of a Kitten my brother, I am guessing that this beast is not yours. I am glad to see him come to your aid nonetheless. It is a good sign of the strength of your relationship with your Sentinel. I would tell you not to be too hard on James, but I admit I am still somewhat irked at his actions. It is my hope that someday I am able to give him a good punch in retaliation. There are hundreds of things I would like to say to you right now, Bit, but I cannot think of a single one at the moment.”  
  
For his part, Spencer wasn’t sure what to say either. He was just happy to have his brother back in his life. When combined with his relationship with both his Forever and Sam and then his new job on top of it, things seemed to be turning out just perfectly. “Just say that you’ll never go away again,” Spencer begged, searching his brother’s face. “Tell me that you’ll always be here from now on and I will put it all behind us. I love Tony, and I have this equally strong and satisfying relationship with Sam Winchester that I’m a little worried about explaining to you. Stephen and Marcus are as much my Uncles as Tony’s, and the Paddington family as a whole has never treated me as anything but one of their own.”  
  
Spencer paused to look in Tony’s direction before turning back. If his vision was somewhat blurrier than it had been before, he wasn’t going to pay it any attention. “You’re the only one who knows the me before I came online. You’re the only one who remembers mom before she got bad and she had to be put in the hospital. You’re the only one with good happy stories of her to share, and who understands the stories I tell and won’t wince at how some of them aren’t really as great as I remember. I love my life, but I need you to be a part of it, again. I need you to not go away again because I don’t think I could handle it if I lost you before we’re too old to remember being young anymore. Just tell me that you’ll stay.”  
  
“I will do my best, Bit,” Alec promised as Spencer was pulled into another massive hug. “You have my word. I will do my best to never leave you again. If it should happen though, know it was no more my choice than the prior time was. I will never leave you of my own will. I love you, Spencer.”  
  
“I love you, too,” Spencer whispered as he pressed his face into Alec’s neck and let his tears flow mixing the happy ones with the sad that he’d held in so long.  
  
There were so many things to work out. Spencer had to find out what they were all doing there. He had to find out why the Air Force had a base underneath a mountain. He had to find out why Sam and Ashcroft had been looking at Alec so intently earlier. He had to find a place to live in that could hold all of his family members underneath one roof.  
  
Right then though, all he wanted was to enjoy the feel of his brother’s arms around him and to know that finally, he’d come home, again.  
  
   
  
The End!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had originally planned more after this, but the story was already bigger than I planned, and I realized that to do what I originally intended would put more word count than I wanted. Also, this story was always about Spencer finding Alec, and then his and Tony's relationship and how it evolved. So, I felt this was the right ending for the story I was telling.
> 
> So, I have ideas for a third story in this series. It would start with how Jack and Danny Williams got together and then pick up where this story ends... mostly. HOWEVER, I make no promises that it will ever post. I have three stories I am working on right now. I am doing Rough Trade in July and NANO in November. Plus, several other stories I wanted to get finished this year. 
> 
> So, what I'm saying is maybe, but who knows.
> 
> Again, BIG THANKS to DarkJediQueen and Rivermoon1970 for handling the chaos of a bang and G for giving me such pretties for my story.


End file.
